Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Toddler mauled by dog, dad stabs animal to death

SOUTH AFRICA -- Toddler  René Van der Merwe, 23 months, pictured by Beeld newspaper with her parents, was caught with her face inside the jaws of a Boerboel-dog crossbreed with a Staffordshire terrier.


This powerful animal’s jaws had to be pried open by father Renier to get her head lose and get her rushed to hospital. The little girl’s jaw was broken by the dog’s bite and she will also need extensive plastic surgery.

René was playing in a family member’s backyard in Sasolburg – the town where the coal-to-fuel plants of the SA government are located. The dog snapped his jaw around her face  and the dad had to pry the jaws open to get her head from its powerful bite as the animal would not let go.

Immediately after he got his child loose, Renier stabbed the dog to death: reportedly the animal had bitten other animals before and had also snapped at people’s heels, the father told Beeld newspaper.

(jv.news24 - Aug 10, 2009)