“I saw the dog sitting where he killed her and he was licking his paws and the ground. I have never felt such anger,” said Nicole Gaber, a dog owner from Windsor Glen.
Gaber received the phone call from her son, Tal, recently. Her husband, Alon, was at home in the middle of an asthma attack, the first he has had since he was a teenager, while their dog, Jessie, a cross between a Dachshund and a terrier was being mauled by the dog next door.
Nicole rushed from a women’s conference near Montecasino back home to attend to her husband. “I love my dog but at that moment I cared more about my husband’s life,” said Nicole.
Alon had done all he could to get the neighbor’s pit bull terrier off Jessie but she was still left in a very weak state. Veterinarians at Parktown North Emergency Vet, the closest vet that was opened on a Sunday afternoon, said she was too weak for surgery and they struggled to even clean her wounds.
After six hours, Jessie was still too weak to be operated on. She was put on pain medication and her wounds were covered with iodized patches. The Gaber family did not feel it was the right thing to euthanize her as her eyes still held a look of awareness. However, Jessie passed away at the vet two days later.
Jessie had been barking through the palisade fence at the neighbor’s pit bull terrier when the dog pulled Jessie through the fence and began to maul her and drag her around the yard.
Jessie died due to damage to her chest and the wounds to her leg. The pit bull terrier had pulled Jessie’s skin away from her muscle walls and pockets of gas had formed.
Although this was the incident that killed Jessie, the pit bull terrier had attacked Jessie and the Gaber’s other animals on previous occasions and would even jump the fence into the Gaber’s property during thunderstorms.
Nicole has contacted her neighbors to try and have a meeting to discuss the incident. Past attempts made by the neighbors to stop further attacks was to place a fence of wattle around the property.
Garber’s neighbors, who wish to remain anonymous, said, “My dog does not like other animals. I have told Nicole that we can put money together and build a wall. I feel it is unfair for it to only be my responsibility. I want to be a good neighbor but I have already spent money putting the wooden fence up. I don’t know what else to do.”
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| Jessie was the queen of the house before being mauled to death by the neighbor's pit bull |
In the past, Nicole has called the Randburg SPCA out to remove the pit bull terrier from her property, which the SPCA was reluctant to do but they did come out twice to remove the dog.
General manager of the Randburg SPCA, Craig Rudman, said,”Residents can call us if the fight is on the street and we will remove the animals but it is up to the owner to disperse the fight if it is on their property. Unfortunately, our hands are tied, we are not government officials. The owner needs to be responsible for their animals. We do try to educate owners when they reclaim their animals from us.”
After Jessie’s death, Nicole approached the Linden Police to try and open a case of damage to property but the police were not interested in helping her.
Captain Alex Vermaak, Linden Police Operations Commander explained, “We would refer the resident to the SPCA. If a human was involved then we would get involved to secure the vicious animal. Only if the affected can prove that the owner of the attacking dog had intentionally started the fight, then you might be able to open a case of damage to property, in an extreme case.”
“I want to know if we can pursue this legally. Why do we have pets if there is no protection for them,” Nicole added.
(Randburg Sun - July 19, 2016)
