A Goodwood family want a pit bull owner, who allegedly ran away after an attack on their Jack Russell, Skye, to pay their dog’s R3 000 vet bill.
The attack happened on Tuesday April 18, just after 6pm, while large parts of Goodwood, Vasco and Monte Vista were in darkness because of a power failure.
Sharon Rose, Skye’s owner, said they had run to investigate when they had heard a commotion and Skye’s cries at the front gate: a pit bull had dragged their pet through a narrow gap in the metal gate and had the small dog by its head.
“By the time we got out, she was already pulled through the gate,” Ms Rose said.
Ms Rose, her daughters, Kerishnie Abrahams and Vashini Abrahams; and her sister, Pamela Naidoo, were shocked by what they saw, and their screams alerted neighbours who came out to see what was going on.
The family said the pit bull’s owner had been hitting his dog with his hand to get it to release Skye.
“He blamed us when we tried to tell him he has to pay for the vet, he started arguing with us. He said he’s not paying anything,” said Vashini.
They said the man, who could be in his late 20s, told them he had lived in the area for 15 years and had been running past when their dog had bit first.
The family told Northern News they had never seen any aggressive behaviour from Skye, and when they had told the man to wait because the police were coming, he had run off without identifying himself.
“He was very aggressive; he never took a look at Skye. He was just adamant it wasn’t his fault,” said Ms Rose.
She took Skye to an animal clinic in Bridgetown, but it was closed. A family friend advised them to go to an after-hours vet in Panorama. There, Skye was put on a drip, sedated and had stitches inserted.
Skye stayed at the clinic overnight and has to return next week to have the stitches removed. The treatment cost R3 000, which Ms Rose said she could ill afford.
“I don’t blame the pit bull, I blame the owner. “He was reckless and not to take responsibility for it…” said Ms Rose.
They said that during the argument outside, they had heard someone say, “Stop it, Shudley,” because of the way he had spoken to them.
They suspect that could be his name. “Someone must know him. We want to stop this from happening again,” said Kerishnie.
The family said that when Goodwood SAPS had arrived at the scene, an officer had told them they could not open a case because the pit bull owner’s identity was unknown.
However, Goodwood SAPS acting station commander Lieutenant Colonel Hennie Rademeyer, said a case could indeed still be registered despite the identity of the pit bull owner being unknown.