A dog attack has left a Kabega Park mother and son traumatised after what was meant to be a quiet walk with their miniature Doberman and Jack Russell Terrier dogs left one of the animals dead and the other fighting for its life.
On Saturday, Karin le Roux, 58, left her home at the Kingston Mews townhouse complex with her stepson, Helgard Ferreira, 16, to take their leashed dogs for their usual stroll in the area.
The pair planned to go to the shops and then have the dogs play at the basketball courts in the residential precinct.
But excitement turned to panic on their way back when an unleashed Border Collie, without its owner, leapt out of nowhere and began biting their two bitches.
The commotion drew the attention of some residents, who rushed to the scene near Avondale Road to help Le Roux and Helgard as they tried to fend off the attack.
Minutes later, Sissy, their five-year-old Jack Russell rescue, lay on the ground bleeding as its lungs had been pierced.
It was the first time Le Roux and her dogs had been attacked while out for a walk, and she said the incident terrified her.
“[Sissy] tried to fight back. We all did,” she said.
“We had just got back from the shops to buy a 500ml cold drink.
“I held it in one hand and [clutched] the dog leashes in the other.
“When the Collie suddenly appeared from nowhere, I tried to pick up the two dogs.
“But it got hold of Sissy and began tearing into her.
“I screamed, shouted and became quite hysterical.
“I started beating it with the bottle but would not let go.”
Neighbours arrived and tried to intervene, Le Roux said.
“People came to help and one man fought the dog and eventually managed to get him off.
“By then my Jack [Russell] was bleeding out.”
It was not until later that Le Roux noticed that her partner Thomas Ferreira’s 15-year-old mini Doberman, Stompie, had also been bitten and took the dog to the Baywest Veterinary Clinic.
“I’m shattered. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life, not in all the time that I’ve been walking my dogs.
“I lost one dog and the other was at the vet, where she was operated on and patched up on Saturday evening.
“Though she’s on the mend, it was touch and go [on Saturday] because she has water-clogged lungs and an enlarged heart.”
Stompie required surgery to its stomach and paws.
After getting a finger bitten amid the frenzy, the shaken dog owner went to the hospital, where she was treated for a minor wound, and received antibiotics and a rabies injection.
Grade 10 Bergsig High School pupil Helgard, who was unhurt, said he was still traumatised after trying to save his stepmother and their dogs.
“I was worried about my stepmother,” Helgard said.
“I kicked and hit the dog using my fists and tried to get it off the best way I could.
“This dog attack has left me feeling afraid to take Stompie for a walk in case another dog attacks.”
Animal rescuer Marizanne Kemp Ferreira said it was illegal for a dog to be roaming outside its owner’s property.
“It is against the law‚” Kemp Ferreira said.
“People need to report neighbours’ dogs that are out and about, and the [municipality’s] Dog Control must impound them.”
Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki did not respond to a request for comment.
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