Durban - As a 2-year-old Newlands West boy recovers from being mauled by a neighbour’s dog, his mother said she was still battling to get its owner to prove that it had received all its required shots, including for rabies.
Kim Anthony, 27, of Heaven Hill Road in Hillgrove, said her son, Cole, suffered deep bite marks on his right cheek and his upper lip after he was attacked by the dog earlier this month.
The toddler was discharged from hospital last week, after spending a week at Addington.
Anthony described the incident as a nightmare which had left her son terrified of dogs, including the family’s pet, Truro.
“Every time my baby closes his eyes he awakens in fits of screams. My baby boy is reliving the incident in the form of constant nightmares.”
She said she had been walking with her friend - the daughter-in-law of the dog’s owner – and her three sons when the incident happened on November 4.
“The dog was lying on the side of the road and all three kids were walking in front of us, when suddenly the dog leaped towards my son and pulled him to the ground and went straight for his face and bit his face. It was going to bite him a second time, but by then I had run to it in an attempt to kick (the dog) off my baby,” she said.
Anthony said her son was screaming, “Mummy, the dog is killing me.”
“What was most upsetting is that the owner of the dog heard the drama. He came out, saw me running around with a baby in my arms dripping blood and screaming for help. All he did was look on, even though he owns a van that was parked in his yard,” she said.
Another neighbour took them to hospital, where
Cole was treated for his injuries and put on antibiotics. He was also placed on a drip and a CT scan was done, which showed no cause for concern.
Anthony claimed the dog’s owner, Madhan “Vans” Ramlakan, who runs a tavern in his house, had four “vicious”dogs and residents were scared to approach him about them.
She said she had asked him if the dog that bit her son had received its rabies vaccination, and he had allegedly told her it did, but could not find the documentary proof.
“Despite being aware of the incident, the owner did not once contact me to even check on the status of my baby boy. I had to contact him to confirm his dogs’ inoculations, and he could not even do that for me,” Anthony said.
She said she had to chase after him to pay a private doctor’s bill of R460.
But Ramlakan fought back, accusing Anthony of making a big deal out of nothing.
“She has been telling neighbours how bad I am in this community. I gave her R800, including R460 for the doctor, and also petrol money for the neighbour who took them to hospital,” he said. “If she spreads wrong information about me, I will seek legal advice from my attorney.”
Ramlakan, who denied that his dog, a cross-breed, was vicious, said he had co-operated with Newlands East police, who were investigating the matter.
“It was the first time he had bitten a child; even the police have no records of previous cases. It is just a small dog,” he said. “I suspect my daughter-in law, who was with the boy’s mother, had forgotten to close the gate, hence the dog wandered on to the street. But I can never be sure because I was not at home when it happened.
“I run a tavern and had my dog been vicious, nobody would have dared to come to my place,” he added.
KZN police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, confirmed that the incident was being investigated and the docket would be forwarded to a senior public prosecutor for a decision.
Naicker confirmed that the owner had not yet provided proof of his dog’s vaccination history, although he said Ramlakan had indicated it had been vaccinated.
Daily News