What started out as a casual evening for a family of five, turned into a bloodsoaked brawl with two rogue pitbulls that almost took the life of a young father. Michael Rossouw was brutally mauled and torn apart within an inch of his life whilst protecting his wife and their four month old son from two pitbull terriers. The family of five, including Michael’s father-in-law, Jorrie Jordaan, and mother-in-law, Ida were helpless against the violent dogs and are still trying to come to terms with this horrible event.
Jorrie says he has sleepless nights as the event that nearly killed him and his son continues to haunt him. The family stopped outside their house gate when the tragedy unfolded.
According to Jorrie, he heard his son-in-law’s frightened shouts saying ‘the dogs are here!’ shortly after they stopped the car. The dogs approached their car and immediately jumped on Michael and started viciously attacking him. They also attacked his mother-in-law, biting her shoulders and legs.
Michael, seeing that the dogs were beginning to attack other members of the family, bravely began walking away from the car to draw the dogs away from them all the while being repeatedly bitten by the unrelenting dogs.
Ida described how the dogs had him fully pinned to the ground and were dragging and pulling him around to the point that his pants were twisted around his ankles.
Jorrie, realised that if he didn’t intervene, the dogs would kill Michael. During his attempt to save his son-in-law, he was bitten in the face. In a desperate attempt to free the dogs that were now biting his ankles, Jorrie repeatedly punched them as he and Michael fought their way toward the house to take shelter from rabidly violent dogs. They reached the house and shut the door just in time.
Michael told his father he didn’t think he was going to survive the ordeal as blood was pooling around his body in the living room; one of the dogs managed to tear one of his arteries and he was bleeding out.
The young father was rushed to hospital where he had to undergo a three-hour-long surgery to save his life, which included skin grafting. Although his life was saved, the road to healing will be a long one for Michael, both physically and mentally.
Advocate Henk Nolte, director at Firearms Guardian, weighs in:
“Dog attacks are becoming all too frequent. Whilst one could ask how the owners allowed the dogs in this scenario to get out, the question remains: Are you allowed to shoot an animal during such an attack and could you face legal steps if you do?
“It is important for all firearm owners to know what they need to do if they encounter a violent dog on their property and they find themselves with no other option but to shoot it,” explained Henk Nolte.
Read our full opinion regarding stray dogs here:
The Firearms Guardian policy is administered by Firearms Guardian (Pty) Ltd (FSP47115), an authorised Financial Services Provider and underwritten by GENRIC Insurance Company Limited (FSP43638), an authorised Financial Services Provider and licensed non-life Insurer.
