Pretoria - Max, a bull mastiff, is set to cost his owner nearly R1 million after mauling a neighbour.
Hermanus Bosman of Faerie Glen, east of Pretoria, this week agreed to pay Catherina Coppejans, R950 000 for the damages she suffered when Max bit her.
She had earlier claimed R2m after the dog mauled her, biting her in both legs and leaving especially her left leg in a bad state.
Judge Elizabeth Kubushi of the high court in Pretoria found Bosman liable for the damages, after rejecting his defence that Coppejans was mauled by a stray dog and not his dog Max.
Max was put down a few days after he bit the woman in May 2010.
Coppejans, 67, said she had been walking around the neighbourhood for the past 30 years as part of her daily exercise without any problem.
On that fateful day, as she was walking down the road towards Bosman’s house, she heard dogs barking and saw him opening the gate to let Max and a little dog called Blackie out. Coppejans said the dogs kept on barking and ran towards her.
She stood dead still and did not make eye contact with them.
She said the dogs went past her, but Max turned around and bit her behind her lower leg.
She fell down and shouted for help. According to Coppejans, Max was soon on top of her and kept on biting her, until Bosman came to help her.
The woman managed to walk towards her property, leaning heavily on her right leg, which also had bite wounds. She could not use her left leg at all.
At home her son tied a belt around her upper leg to stop the bleeding.
Bosman then arrived and insisted on taking her to hospital.
Coppejans said on the way to the hospital Bosman repeatedly said “this should not have happened”.
It emerged that apart from the mauling, she also fractured her leg. She underwent an operation to have screws inserted and remained in hospital for several days.
Bosman visited her while she was in hospital and even offered to assist with her medical bills. He even offered to cook for her husband and son while she was in hospital.
Coppejans said she had previously asked Bosman to keep his dogs on a leash when he opened the gate, but he had assured her they were old and did not pose a risk.
Bosman, who has been living in the street for 31 years, blamed the incident on a stray dog.
He said his dogs were fully trained and obedient and they often went outside the gate with him to fetch the newspaper.
Bosman claimed that on the morning in question when he opened the gate, Max spotted a stray dog in the street and ran towards it.
Bosman said he kept an eye on his dog. The next moment he saw the woman on the ground, while Max was standing a distance away.
Bosman said it must have been the stray dog which bit the woman, but Judge Kubushi rejected this.
She concluded it was Max which bit Coppejans, especially in light of evidence that Max was not as obedient as claimed by his master.
He in the past also stormed into the street and once bit a dachshund to death.
The Coppejans declined to speak to the Pretoria News, but through their lawyer, Marli van Aard, said they were happy with the settlement.
Pretoria News