While Emma Murphy and Aubrey Murphy, 56, are recovering in hospital, their 60-year-old neighbour, who does not want to be identified, has revealed how he fought off the vicious dogs, including a rottweiler and pit bull, at the residence in Garlandale Crescent, Athlone.
The next-door neighbour was leaving home when he heard Aubrey’s desperate screams.
“I threw a five-litre bucket of water in the face of the one [dog] and used more water on the other [dog at the front gate],” he says.
Meanwhile, two other honde had gotten inside the oupa and little girl’s property, attacking the two who were on the ground.
“I saw Aubrey and he shouted for help; I said ‘ I am coming’,” he says.
He saw how a bleeding Aubrey used his body to shield Emma, his three-year-old granddaughter.
Then he fetched a spade from the shed and beat it against his vibracrete wall.
The dogs’ owners merely shouted and swore at the dogs, he said.
“I beat the spade against the wall. It sounded like gunshots and I could see the dogs were getting ready to attack again,” he says.
“They had tasted blood and are killer dogs.
“As the one moved towards Emma again, I beat the spade again until they stopped.”
The brave oupa rushed in with his spade and the dogs fled in fear.
“My tenant, who is a nurse, rushed in with me and stopped the bleeding on Aubrey’s head while a neighbour rushed Emma to hospital,” he says.
He also says he does not believe the dogs had jumped the two-metre fence, but had entered through a gap at the end of the wall.
Aubrey is in a stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit at Vincent Pallotti Hospital where he is expected to undergo skin grafts.
Emma, who is one of a twin, had had a six-hour operation at Red Cross Children’s Hospital. She suffered wounds to her head and face and is also in the ICU.
The four dogs have since been removed by the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.
The Daily Voice has tried to contact the dog owners on numerous occasions, but have been unable to reach them for comment.