The grandfather, his wife, their daughter and granddaughter were standing near their garage when the dog allegedly snapped and went for the first person in front of it.
“When my dad saw what was about to happen he quickly picked up my daughter and the dog started biting him instead,” said the daughter, who did not want to be named.
“He passed my daughter to my mom and she passed her on to me; I ran into the backyard, put my daughter in the house and tried to calm her down.”
She added that as soon as her daughter was calm she left her in her play room, picked up a large tub of water and ran to the front yard to help her parents.
“I poured water over the dog, but it still did not let go of my father,” she said.
Her mother ran to the back yard and into the house through the backdoor.
She unlocked the front door and the grandfather managed to pull himself onto the stoep.
“He finally came closer to the security gate and my mother pulled him out of the dog’s mouth and into the house; she slammed the security gate shut, leaving Fred outside.
“After Fred saw that he couldn’t come in through the front he ran to the backyard, to try to gain access through the back door,” the daughter said.
“The dog ran past our other boerboel, Sophie, who also wanted to attack my mother after smelling the blood.
“Before the dogs could attack, my mother slammed the gate shut.”
CMS was called to the scene by neighbours
“The CMS officers helped us to keep my father conscious and stop the bleeding; they even called the ambulance for us,” said the daughter.
“I was in such a state of shock I couldn’t remember the numbers to call the ambulance myself and, when I finally did remember, I couldn’t dial them because I was shaking.”
She added that the CMS was not permitted to shoot the dogs, so the SPCA was called to the scene by CMS.
While the SPCA members loaded the dogs into their vehicle, CMS stood with their guns at the ready, in case the dogs tried to attack again.
“We really appreciate what CMS has done for our family; if it was not for them we would have lost my father, they even went the extra mile of escorting my mother home at 3am, when she was coming home from the hospital,” the daughter said.
The two dogs were later put down by the SPCA.
“When the ambulance arrived on the scene my father had only 42 per cent blood left in his body,” the daughter said.
The grandfather had seven large gashes all over his body, bite marks on his stomach and the dog bit off one of his fingers.
He is currently recovering in a local hospital and has undergone two reconstructive surgeries so far.
The family had had the two dogs for eight years, since they were puppies.
“I would like to thank my mother for being so brave; instead of running she stood by my father and tried to help him,” the daughter added.
“Dad, I do not have words to thank you for saving my daughter; you were prepared to give your own life to save her.
“Thank you so much, I will always be grateful.”
The family thanked CMS again, for their swift response, help and support throughout the entire incident.
