Five attacked by vicious dogs

GEORGE NEWS - The three dogs that caused mayhem in George on Monday morning, 7 March, have been euthanised.

The dogs, two pit bull terriers and a pit bull terrier cross, went on a bloody rampage attacking people in various areas near the Tamsui industrial area. They were captured after an extensive search that lasted hours.

At least five people were viciously attacked from about 04:30 on Monday morning. The Garden Route SPCA (GRSPCA) was called out to the first incident near Steinhoff Business Park and later received a call of another attack in the vicinity of Lancewood in the Tamsui industrial area. After that followed an attack on a security guard at Stanmar Motors and another on two people on the N2.

The security guard who was on duty sustained severe injuries. He is recovering in hospital. One of the other victims, well-known George athlete Lloyd Bosman, was on his morning run when the dogs attacked him near the N2. He sustained serious injuries to his left hand and thigh. He has since been discharged from hospital.

"I'm fortunate. It could've been so different. I just knew that if they pulled me down, I was finished," said Bosman.

Nadia Ferreira, district spokesperson of the Western Cape Department of Health, confirmed that two patients were admitted to hospital due to the attacks. "One male patient has already been discharged and the other is still receiving treatment from us. He is in a satisfactory condition," she said.

According to the owner of the dogs, who was in complete shock and disbelief, they escaped from her yard in Rosedale the previous evening. "We went looking for them, but couldn't find them and decided to continue the search early the following morning. I don't understand why they did what they did. They've never attacked anyone before," she said.

The search
GRSPCA senior inspector Salomé Bruyns said one of their inspectors reacted immediately after the call-out and started searching for the dogs. After the third attack, another call came through with information that the dogs had been spotted on the N2 running towards Mossel Bay and that they had just attacked another man. The inspector rushed to the scene and called the inspectorate team for assistance.

Bosman sustained injuries to his left hand and leg.

"The inspector, assisted by two members of the public, the police and a traffic officer, approached the dogs to try and lure them into the vehicle but the dogs tried to attack multiple times and kept running between the traffic on the N2. Bear in mind that it happened in the middle of rush hour with extreme traffic," said Bruyns.

SPCA inspector

Witnesses attack
The fifth attack was witnessed by the inspector who was out on the call near the N2. "Our inspector witnessed the horrible ordeal of all three dogs on top of a man as he was kicking and screaming to get them away from him. She tried to assist the man, after which they launched at her and she had to ward them off with a catching pole. Another member stepped out of their vehicle and the dogs were distracted.

The medical condition of the fifth victim could not be confirmed by the time of going to print.

With assistance from the owner, the dogs were eventually found and caught by the SPCA in the vicinity of Groeneweide Park near the highway.

"The owner managed to get the dogs into the SPCA vehicle and they were brought to safety. After numerous people's lives were endangered and due to the severity of the victims' injuries, the very hard, but responsible decision was made by the owner to humanely euthanise the three dogs. We are all incredibly traumatised and upset by the incident, and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were injured. We understand the immense trauma you are going through, but will never understand what may have triggered these dogs to do what they did. Unfortunately they had to pay with their lives because of it," said Bruyns in a statement.

Bosman sustained injuries to his left hand and leg.