Pretoria - A woman who was bitten by a friend’s husky dog more than nine years ago – when she was 17 – is due to receive R50 000 from the pet owner as compensation.
The owner also has to pay for the medical expenses incurred.
In terms of the Western Cape High Court judgment, Theo Pillay – owner of the dog – had to also foot the bill for six physiotherapy sessions which the victim, Micayla Marshall will still have to undergo. In total, Pillay will have to fork out about R80 000.
Marshall told the court that on January 11, 2014 she and her sister were invited by the son of Pillay to their home for a social gathering. She was driven there by her mother. On arrival, she notified the son that she had arrived. He came out of the front door and told her to enter through the sliding gates by the garage, which he opened for her with a remote control.
Marshall said she noticed that there was a dog wandering around in the front yard but she paid no attention to it. When the gate opened, two dogs came running out.
The one dog, a Siberian husky, which she described as “big”, ran towards her and without warning, launched itself towards her throat. She raised her arms to ward off the attack which resulted in both her forearms being bitten. Her sister and mother rushed to her aid.
The son was still behind the fence when the attack occurred. She said he seemed in shock and he immediately rushed towards the dog to get it under control.
Marshall explained that the dog’s face was covered in blood. She was in shock, shaking and crying, and also covered in blood. Her mother and sister witnessed the attack. Her mother immediately rushed her to hospital where she was given morphine.
A plastic surgeon later took her to theatre and under general anaesthetic did a debridement of the wounds and sutured the wounds in the different layers of skin. She remained in hospital overnight and was discharged the following day with both arms covered in bandages for weeks.
Marshall could not go to school for some time, which she said was frustrating as she was a prefect and in matric. She and her sister attended sessions with the school counsellor to talk about the incident.
She testified that during this period, she felt very self-conscience and embarrassed about the puncture wounds on her arms, as some people had assumed that she had self-harmed.
She stated that she was very angry at what had happened.
She testified that she had subsequently received therapy for her anxiety towards dogs.
But she still suffers from post traumatic stress disorder whenever she sees a dog.
Marshall told the court that the reason for seeking therapy again is that she roller-blades on the promenade and often feels anxious when she sees dogs running off a leash and towards her. This had happened on two occasions.
While Pillay did not testify in his defence, the court was told that the family did pay about R13 000 towards Marshall’s medical expenses following the incident. They, however, did not pay the full amount.
Judge Deidré Kusevitsky, in deciding how much to award Marshall as general damages, looked at an unrelated judgment, where a jogger was attacked by a boerboel dog in the street. In that case, the jogger sustained puncture wounds caused by the bites where the dog took hold of her and shook her from side to side.
In that case, the jogger was awarded about R64 000 in damages. The judge concluded that in comparing the two cases, R50 000 in general damages for Marshall was fair, apart from the amounts Pillay had to pay towards her medical expenses.
Marshall initially claimed a total of R300 000.
Pretoria News