An elderly man from Ottery says he is lucky to be alive after he was attacked by two adult Rottweilers and spent nine days in hospital.
Adriaan Rossouw, 65, says an ordinary stroll down Koraal Road on April 7 turned bloody when he was attacked by the two dogs.
“I have seen the dogs before but they were behind the gate but on this specific day they were outside,” he explains.
Before he could try and make a run for it, the dogs attacked him, biting him all over his legs.
“I didn’t even have a chance to defend myself because they were gunning for me. I almost died in the attack,” he added.
The oupa saiys a neighbour heard him crying out for help and raised the alarm.
“A man then came with his 4x4 and parked his vehicle by the gate. That saved my life,” he tells the Daily Voice.
Adriaan suffered serious bite marks and was hospitalised for nine days.
But a month later he said he is still struggling with authorities to have the dogs removed.
“They sent me from pillar to post. It is a disgrace how they handle the elderly people.”
Wayne Dyason, spokesperson for the City’s Law Enforcement, said that officers did respond to the oupa and interviewed him in the hospital.
“The complainant advised Law Enforcement that he did not at this stage wish to proceed further with the matter as he was going to discuss the matter with the owner of the dog with a view to getting him to pay his medical costs.
“He would then get back to the officers pending the outcome. At this stage, there is no complaint other than the victim’s complaint which by his own request was put on hold and dealt with in terms of the SO [standard operation],” Dyason says.
Adriaan says he has yet to hear from the dogs’ owners.
“I hear nothing about them [owners] and I don’t see them but the dogs are still in the yard. My family are also furious at how the dogs attack me,” Adriaan says.