A 44-year-old KwaZulu-Natal man is in critical condition after surviving a pit bull attack that lasted more than 20 minutes on Sunday morning.
The incident took place at Trenance Park, in Verulam, north of Durban.
The dog jumped over the road gate
Lazarus Appalsamy was apparently walking to his home on Tasmin Road after visiting a friend when two pit bulls owned by the neighbor sped through the driveway gate and attacked the 44-year-old.
After midnight, residents who witnessed the midnight attack contacted the local first responder team, the South African Response Unit (Rusa).
“Reaction Officers were immediately dispatched to the spot and, on arrival, found Appalsamy lying on the side of the road,” Deer spokesperson Prem Balram said.
“According to Appalsamy, he was returning home after visiting a friend when his neighbor’s two pit bulls jumped through the gate and attacked him.
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The dog attacked him for 20 minutes
“His friend tried to help him but he was bitten on his arm and leg,” added Balram.
Witnesses who witnessed the attack stated that the dog attacked Appalsamy for more than 20 minutes before the owner arrived and removed the dog back to his home.
Appalsamy’s injuries were gruesome, and it appeared the dogs had gouged out his left eyeball while chunks of flesh were missing from other parts of his body.
He was taken to Osindisweni hospital in a critical condition before being transferred to another specialist hospital.
The dogs are staying with their owners for now.
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Appalsamy on parole for murder
According to Balram, Appalsamy is now acquitted of murder.
“I remember him clearly,” Balram recalls The Warga.
“I arrested him twenty years ago for stabbing a man several times, and what he saw was that he stabbed the man in the eye,” Balram said.
Before the murder, Balram said Appalsamy had frequent run-ins with local authorities for drug-related offences.
It is unclear if charges have been filed.
The National NSPCA said it was not aware of the attack in Durban.
*This is a developing story.
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