By Guy Rogers
A three-year-old boy is being treated for rabies after an incident last Friday when a grey mongoose rampaged through a house on a Sunland smallholding in the Eastern Cape.
State vet Sisanda Hashe confirmed this week that a post mortem was done on the mongoose after it was caught and put down by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and it had tested positive for rabies.
Susanne de Bruyn said she and her five children were at home about 4pm when the animal ran in through the front door.
"It ran wildly from room to room biting at the rugs and tablecloths. I thought the dogs had chased it. I got the children on top of their beds with their legs out the way, but then my three-year-old Benjamin came in from outside. He said the mongoose bit him, and there was some fresh blood."
She caught the mongoose when it bit and held onto a feather duster and took it to the SPCA. The child is being treated for rabies.