The question SARS probably is asking is this service dog or not. SARS will easily approve a service dog who has been properly trained, e.g. a seeing dog for a visually impaired person. The organization who trained and provided the dog will be able to easily issue a certificate/letter explaining...
The payment due date on the assessment only applies to amounts owing to SARS. SARS does not give an advance date for payments. Once everything is finalized, the EFT will appear on your statement the day before it is released. You can only wait until SARS is done.
In my experience every person who was suddenly asked to submit an "old" return was because there was a tax directive in that year due to movement in retirement funds, either a transfer or a withdrawal.