Man on morning stroll knocks out Jack Russell terrier

A pet owner and a man out on a walk disagreed about who was in the doghouse after the walker was accused of hitting a Jack Russell terrier with a galvanised water pipe after the dog allegedly attacked him.

Mr Piet Swanepoel told Nelspruit Post that he was walking in the street as he usually does on a Saturday morning, when two Jack Russells ran out of an open gate and stormed him.

“Because I have been attacked by big dogs in the past, I constructed a galvanised pipe which I use to defend myself against aggressive dogs,” he told the paper. “When the two dogs ran out of the gate and encircled me, barking all the way, I shouted and tried to stop them from biting me. When one got hold of my sock, I swung the pipe and hit one of the dogs on its mouth, knocking it unconscious. I am an old man and have had numerous surgeries to my legs. I become defensive when dogs get near my legs,” he said.

According to Swanepoel, the dogs’ owner, Mr Deon Meyer, was standing in his driveway next to a vehicle. “He just stood there as the dogs ran out. Only after I hit the dog did he start walking toward me,” he claimed.

Swanepoel then continued to walk away from the unconscious dog and its fast-approaching owner.

“A lady and another, unfamiliar man then drove up to me, took photos of me and yelled in my face. Meyer sat by his dog and yelled that I had killed his dog, which was absolute nonsense,” said Swanepoel.

According to Meyer, the gates were open because he was reversing his car out to go to town. He said he was in the car at the time of the attack.

“If I had big dogs I would have made sure that they were in the house first, but I have two Jack Russells, they are small,” he said.

Meyer said the dogs simply ran in Swanepoel’s direction and they were very close to him, but didn’t bite him. “There is no evidence that he was bitten at all.”

Meyer reported Swanepoel to the SPCA in Mbombela. He produced the photos of the unconscious dog as evidence.

“This is a sensitive situation,” said SPCA spokesman Ms Lindi Roux. “The dogs escaped from the yard and attacked the man in the street. It is the responsibility of the dog owner to keep his dogs inside the yard, especially if he knows the dogs have a tendency to get out or to attack.”

The SPCA will still advise the dog owner to lay a criminal charge against Swanepoel for the malicious damage of property. “In South Africa, your pets are seen as your property,” Roux added. “I don’t think the man’s reaction justifies the level of aggression of the attack and that he damaged another man’s property, even if it was out of self-defence.”

Meyer said he would not lay a charge against Swanepoel and that he just wanted the story to blow over and go away while his dog recuperates.