Durban - A KwaZulu-Natal pensioner was badly mauled by three dogs on Monday morning.
The 79-year-old man managed to escape the ordeal after a passer-by witnessed the attack and started throwing bricks at the three dogs, according to a responding medical team from Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA).
RUSA spokesperson Prem Balram said in a statement on Monday that the victim was on his way to retrieve his mail from a cluster mailbox on Wren Way in Verulam, Durban, when the attack happened.
Balram said they received a distress call at around 11am from onlookers, requesting assistance for an elderly man lying on the ground and bleeding heavily from his injuries.
“On arrival, it was established that the victim arrived at the cluster boxes in his Toyota Corolla. Shortly after exiting his vehicle he was attacked by two pit bulls and a boerboel that managed to get out of a property a few metres away.
“He had penetrating wounds to his hands and legs and needed further medical care. He was then transported to hospital,” Balram told the African News Agency (ANA) on Monday.
“The owner of the dogs arrived on scene and could not confirm as to how his pets exited his property that was surrounded by a boundary wall,” Balram explained.
ANA contacted the victim’s family on Monday, who confirmed that they would not be pursuing a criminal or civil case against the owner.
The victim’s son, Prashan Parsadh, said they were just happy he was okay.
“We are not going to take the matter further. We understand he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Parsadh told ANA.
In a separate incident in September last year, a 3-year-old was mauled to death by a pit bull in Glenwood, Pietermaritzburg.
Medical response team Netcare 911 said the boy sustained major trauma to the head, face, neck, chest and hip area. He died in hospital of his injuries.
African News Agency (ANA)