Man survives attack by dogs

 

WARNING: Graphic content

“If God said it is not your time, then it is not your time,” said a man who was attacked by dogs on a smallholding in Leeuwpoort.

 

On June 8, Bernard Mphakga who had been renting a home on the smallholding for two years was almost mauled to death when a pack of Pitbulls escaped from their enclosure and attacked him.

 

He recalled the day when it happened and said that this event has emotionally scarred him for life and that it is only by the grace of God that he is alive today.

 

“The buildings on the smallholding where I stay are roughly about 100 to 150 metres apart. The enclosure housing the dogs is a wooden fence and that is where the dogs are being kept. I work for myself and came home late. When I opened the gate, everything was normal; no dogs to be seen,” said Mphakga.

 

He said that as he approached his home, he noticed one dog out of the corner of his eye appeared and had its eyes locked on him.

 

“The dog started growling at me and at that moment my mind went blank as it started increasing its speed toward me. A second dog came around the corner, but before the first dog could attack me, the second dog attacked the first dog and pushed it away from me,” Mphakga explained

 

According to Mphakga, that is when the two dogs broke out in a vicious fight.

 

“As I tried to get past them and go to my house, two more dogs came running. They jumped the fence like Springboks. I do not know how I moved towards my house, but I remember running for my life, that was the only solution I had. I don’t know where the other dogs came from. I knew if I could

reach my house, I would be safe,” said Mphakga, but that was unfortunately not the case; the dogs had caught up with him.

 

 

He went on to explain that he tried to turn his back on the dogs. “As they started biting me, I was screaming for help. At my house, there is a small verandah about one metre away from me where I tried to pull myself toward the door, but they’ve bitten me on the back of my legs. I could not walk

anymore and I fell to my knees.”

 

According to Mphakga three dogs were biting him on the left and three on his right. “I did not close my eyes because I was fighting. I thought that I’ll be the next victim of a Pitbull attack, but my spirit told me that I will not die. I fought tooth and nail and as I was screaming for help, then out of nowhere this young boy appeared and called once and the dogs immediately stopped,” Mphakga recalled.

 

 

After the dogs moved away, Mphakga asked the boy to help him get to safety as he crawled to the gardener’s shed.

 

Mphakga gave his phone to the young boy who saved him from the attack and he helped to contact a friend to take Mphakga to hospital. Within 10 minutes his friend was on the scene and took him away.

 

He explained that by that time he felt very dizzy as he had lost a lot of blood.  

 

Mphakga said he was admitted to Witbank Hospital where he stayed for six days.

 

According to the doctor, the wounds could not be stitched up as fear of infection was a concern.

 

After the attack whilst Mphakga was in hospital, a cow that wandered onto the property has also been attacked with deep wounds on its face and body.

 

“Normally there would be two dogs (Pitbulls) and they were friendly; they never attacked me. This year from March there have been more dogs as they were circulating every few weeks and then move out,” Mphakga explained.

 

Franci Wallace who took care of the dogs said that she does not have an explanation for how the attack happened. She had no idea how the dogs could’ve gotten out and said she feels sorry about the incident. Wallace has been rescuing dogs and has always had a love for animals.

 

“The dogs were rescue dogs and not mine. I’ve had them for four weeks. The SPCA came to fetch the dogs and we still can not understand how it happened. There was nothing I could do as I was not home at the time. My grandchild was able to help and get the dogs away from the man,” explained Wallace.

 

She also explained that this has been a tough situation and sometimes dogs arriving at the shelter are in bad shape. She also said that some of the dogs can not be re-homed and others do find homes.

 

“The cow that got attacked wasn’t supposed to be in my yard,” explained Wallace saying that she is on good terms with the owner of the cow and there are no hard feelings since they both were in the wrong.

 

 

Since the incidents, four dogs have been removed from the premises by Witbank SPCA on June 13 while one dog escaped and has not been found yet.

 

It is unclear how many dogs have been involved in the attack.

 

Carika Roux from Witbank SPCA said that not all Pitbulls are dangerous.

“Inbreeding and being raised wrong by their owners are major contributing factors regarding an animal’s behaviour,” said Roux.

 

What is your opinion about the Pitbull dog breed?

 

Please send us an email to info@witbanknews.co.za or phone us on 013 656 2490

·                         For more breaking and community news, visit Witbank News’ website www.witbanknews.co.za  

·                         For more news and articles, like WITBANK NEWS on Facebook or

follow us on Twitter or Instagram