Women savagely mauled by escaped dogs in Illovo Beach

Two women were savaged by five dogs that escaped a property in Illovo Beach Road, Amanzimtoti, on Monday morning.

One of the women is hospital-bound after she underwent emergency plastic surgery while the other, who sustained serious tissue wounds, has already been discharged from Prince Mshiyeni Hospital.

Kaylie Vermeulen explained to the South Coast Sun that while she was on her way to work on Monday morning, she noticed a bakkie had stopped in the road. She then saw the driver of the vehicle, JP Swanepoel, attempting to chase five dogs away from a woman who was lying on the road, being attacked by the pack of dogs.

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“I got out of my car and went to help. I saw the house the dogs were coming from, so I ran to the gate and started shouting for help. The owner came out and the dogs started attacking me. The owner managed to call the dogs away. We called for an ambulance but it didn’t arrive soon enough so my mother transported me to Kingsway Hospital and the owner transported the other woman, Prudence Khuzwayo, to Prince Mshiyeni Hospital,” she said.

Kaylie underwent emergency plastic surgery to her right leg, and treatment to the severe injuries to her left leg, ribs, arms, hands and shoulder. She will remain in hospital for at least a week, and has been placed on a variety of medications and has been started on a rabies course, to ensure she doesn’t contract the fatal disease.

Kaylie’s injuries.

Prudence’s daughter, Thola believes her mother shouldn’t have been discharged from Prince Mshiyeni Hospital as yet, as her injuries are too severe.

“My mom’s wounds were cleaned and bandaged up, and she was discharged with two different types of painkillers – one to take normally and one to take when the pain is really bad,” said Thola. The family, who reside in Illovo Township, are looking to get Prudence to visit another hospital for further medical care.

The owner of the dogs, who chose to remain anonymous, explained how the dogs escaped the property.

“I have a six-month-old pit bull puppy and four mixed-breed dogs,” he began. “They were chasing monkeys from about 6am yesterday morning and in doing so, tore open a hole in the bottom fence of the yard, which faces Illovo River. They must have then made their way to the top of the property, possibly to be let in at the gate. This is when Prudence was passing by.”

The owner said his dogs’ vaccinations and rabies shots are up to date, and that this is the first time such an incident had occurred.

“After the attack, we called an ambulance but it didn’t arrive quickly enough. I fetched one of the women’s daughters and transported them to Prince Mshiyeni Hospital. I ensured they received care and food, before I went to Kingsway Hopsital to check on the other woman. Then I reported the matter to Amanzimtoti SAPS and Amanzimtoti SPCA,” the owner said.

The owner has since repaired the fence.

The owner moved to dispel speculation being bandied about on Facebook that the dogs were five pit bulls.

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