Dog attacks athlete

2003-12-15 22:18

Borrie la Grange

Pretoria - A veteran athlete's days of running could be a thing of the past after a pitbull terrier attacked him at an animal clinic in Pretoria.

Bossie Boshoff, 62, from Wonderboom, had gone to buy dog food at the Overkruin veterinarian clinic when without warning, a dog grabbed his leg, ripping through his calf muscles.

Shortly before the incident, Boshoff, who has completed the Comrades marathon 20 times, had gone jogging with some friends.

"I still had my running clothes on and was standing at the counter, waiting to pay for the food. The owner and the vet walked out of the consulting room with the dog, which was on a lead."

"Without warning the dog grabbed my calf and started shaking it. He ripped my calf muscles to shreds," said Boshoff on Monday from his Montana clinic bed.

According to him it took the vet, Dr Nico Degenaar, and the dog's owner, Lientjie Botha, almost five minutes to get the dog off him.

Apparently Degenaar had warned other animal owners that he was bringing the dog out and had asked them to leave the waiting room. Boshoff apparently did not hear the warning.

He admitted the dog was aggressive but said that animals tended to be more nervous when visiting the clinic.

Doctors on Saturday operated on Boshoff's leg and on Monday a skin transplant was done.

Boshoff said he was not considering legal action but if the damage to his leg was permanent he may decide to lodge a civil suit against Botha.

- Beeld