Tenant’s pit-bulls attack Camperdown man

AN ELDERLY Camperdown man had to undergo a three-hour operation after four pit-bulls belonging to his tenant attacked him when he tried to protect schoolchildren walking in the area.

Sam Eilers, 72, who is recovering from his injuries, said he was in his factory this month, when he heard dogs barking outside.

The dogs belonged to his tenant, who rented a property near the factory in Camperdown.

“I grabbed my knobkerrie and went outside to see what was happening. I saw some young children playing and the four pit bulls running towards them,” he said.

He tried to chase the dogs, but one pulled him to the ground and started biting him.

“I used my arm to protect myself and called for my son to come help. He chased the dogs away using an iron rod,” he said.

Eilers said he underwent a skin graft at the Medi-Clinic Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.

“I am sitting with R70 000 in medical bills,” he said.

Eilers’s tenant, Adriaan Vermaak, said his dogs escaped from the enclosed residential boundary fence surrounding his home.

In a letter sent by his lawyer, Sahil Singh of Dev Maharaj and Associates, Vermaak said his partner, Tracy Ann Mill, visited Eilers in hospital.

He said he was “surprised” when he received a call from the police station to report that a case had been opened against him.

Police are investigating and Vermaak has removed the dogs from the property. |