Dog attacks second neighbour

SOUTH AFRICA -- A woman who witnessed her neighbour being mauled by a pit bull terrier two months ago says she too was attacked by the dog – and has the stitches to prove it.

Helen Stieger of Cluver Crescent on the Bluff, said her daughter Carmen had returned home from school on Thursday when her nephew’s pit bull, Jack, locked its jaws on her leg, at the font door of their cottage.

Stieger said her daughter let out a bloodcurdling scream and she instinctively tried to push the dog off to save her. But Carmen lost her balance and fell on to her mother. The dog locked its jaws on Stieger’s outstretched hand. “The thoughts going through my head were to save my daughter.

“I noticed the dog did not have a collar so I attempted to put my hand around its neck. The dog was powerful; it tried to pull me out of the door and into the yard,” she said. “My daughter managed to close the door, accidentally jamming the dog’s paw in the gap. It let go of my hand.”

Bleeding from their wounds, she phoned a nearby friend for help. They were stuck inside for 25 minutes while the dog, which lived with its owner in the main house, continued to prowl outside.

Stieger said neighbours gathered at the driveway gate, shocked. One called the dog to the gate while another tied a rope around its neck, holding on to the animal as the mother and daughter ran out of the house and grounds.

They were taken to Wentworth Hospital where Stieger received five stitches to her hand and her daughter’s wound was bandaged and treated for infection.

The same night, the mother and daughter were accompanied by a neighbour into the yard as they needed to fetch their clothes. The neighbour was armed with a paint ball gun and a knobkierie as the dog was still loose. The owner was not at home.

Since the ordeal, Stieger has slept at her sister Zelda Brancart’s home in Queensburgh, while her daughter is staying with a friend.

In November, a neighbour was mauled by the same dog.

Cindy van Wyk, 23, had been visiting Stieger when it attacked her. She was bitten on the left elbow, right arm, on her crotch and her legs. Although the wounds have healed she still walks with a limp.

“Since the last incident with the neighbour we have been ducking and diving. You cannot come in or go out of the house,” Stieger said. “We live in fear.”

The dog’s owner, Warren Richards, could not be reached for comment at time of publication despite calls and SMSes.

After the previous attack he said there had been adequate signage warning of the dog.

Last week’s incident has been reported at the Brighton Beach police station, but no docket has been opened.

Caroline Smith, spokeswoman for the Durban and Coast SPCA, said it was a civil matter and such incidents were dealt with by the metro police.

Metro police spokesman Senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi said the victim needed to make a detailed report before an investigation could begin.

(Daily News - January 28 2014)