Man dies after dog attack
2009-09-29 09:28
Pretoria - An elderly man who was attacked by four boxer dogs two months ago, has died after his wounds failed to heal.
Claremont resident Abraham Bezuidenhout, 75, sustained serious bite wounds to his right leg, arms and face during the dog attack. He died in his sleep on Sunday morning in the Kalafong hospital, presumably from a heart attack.
The four dogs are still alive and in the care of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), pending an investigation into the incident.
Before the attack, Bezuidenhout had gone for a walk while visiting his daughter-in-law, Sofia Bezuidenhout.
Attacked without warning
The dogs apparently slipped out of their yard through an open sliding door.
Shortly after the incident, Bezuidenhout told Beeld from his hospital bed that the dogs had charged at him without making a sound. Apparently he yelled “voertsek, voertsek!”, but to no avail.
He said they tore a piece of flesh from his calf. Bystanders apparently saw him lying on the pavement with the dogs on top of him.
His daughter-in-law, Sofia, said he was in the Kalafong hospital for over two months. He was later discharged, but then admitted again, because his wounds hadn't healed and he was becoming weaker.
"He was very scared of dogs after the incident. He said each time he closed his eyes, he would see the dogs jumping on him."
Wounds looked terrible
Nurses cleaned his wounds every two days, but according to Sofia, the wounds looked "awful".
The City of Tshwane removed the dogs from their owners' care early in July.
They were fined for keeping more than three dogs at a residential home, and an investigation was to determine whether the owners had contributed to the attack and thus to Bezuidenhout's injuries.
One of the owners, Ragel Hattingh, told Beeld on Monday that they had been informed that they couldn't be prosecuted because they weren't at home when the incident took place. Both she and her husband, Eugene, said the sliding door had been locked on that particular day.
According to Hattingh, they were told that they could get the dogs back, but she didn't want them back.
Worked for the railways
On Monday, an employee of the Waltloo SPCA said they were not allowed to put dogs down without a letter from a magistrate.
"We can't make any decisions about the dogs, because they don't belong to us. We are taking care of the dogs on behalf of the Tshwane metro council's community safety department."
The metro did not respond to enquiries from the media.
Bezuidenhout was a state pensioner. He had spent many years working for the former South African Railways.