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AGE - 12 It was a regular day of feeding the dogs for me. It was a school holiday, also a Sunday if I’m not mistaken. It was about a 1km walk from home to the dog breeding area. In this area there was one black Great Dane male who ran freely with 2 German Sheppards.
I assumed the younger dogs had started fighting now that they were not puppies anymore. They were all brothers and sisters, and their mother was running around outside. I just felt bad for them staying in the cages all day. I couldn’t spend all day there, letting one out and then the other. There was 2 males that I was slightly worried about, 1st I let the one out, then brought it to the gate of the other male, they just sniffed each other and then wagged their tails. They were obviously glad, since they knew when I am going let them out of their cages. First I watched them and there was no fighting, then I started filling all their bowls with fresh water and food. When I was finished I played a bit with each of them, played hide and go seek, and of course I sprayed all of the dogs with water. Since it was quiet a hot day I even sprayed myself. I must have made the mistake of playing too much with the dogs because then it turned into a state of jealousy between the younger males. I was busy spraying water on the Great Dane who always tried to bite the water. Then I heard some growling. It was the two younger males. Actually I should never have let them out at the same time, there was trouble coming. The Great Dane started growling as well, mostly just to protect me, I had to pull him away, I shouted at the German Sheppard but there was no response. I completely shrugged to Great Dane back, gave him a small smack on his snout to tell him NO.
That was enough for the Great Dane to stop but at that moment the German Sheppards launched at each other with horrible bites. I had never seen these two brothers going on at each other, it was usually just a growl and a small snap and that’s all. This was a full on attack. Fine, if the dogs won’t listen to me, I had to take other measures. And just by the way, spraying water at dogs does not work. I the grabbed a steel rake, turned it the safe way round, and tried to separate the dogs. And so after about a minute (that seemed like an hour) they both of them backed off. I was now a bit angry with these two dogs, all this effort to make their life more pleasant and they just ruined it.
I had to grab the younger German Sheppards one at a time, until they were all back into their cages. When I put the last one in the cage, I noticed some blood on the floor. I started following it to see which dog was bleeding. Strange, I couldn’t figure out who was bleeding, I then walked past all the cages again. Nothing. Then I realized there was more blood trails. I checked the two adult female dogs, nothing, then I checked myself. Nothing wrong with my legs, nothing on my arms, and then came the shock. My one finger looked terrible. The tip of my finger was cut directly through the nail and the bone, it was merely dangling by some skin. Oh no, I remembered now that there was one time my hand must have been in the middle of the dog fight. I started walking home. I could not even look at my own finger because I knew it just looked disgusting. I wrapped my hand in my T-shirt and tried to walk faster than usual. I really hoped my mom was at home, otherwise what am I going to do, I had to start thinking of options. Take a knife and cut the finger off. I didn’t like that idea; the only thing I could consider was the meat saw. If I put the saw on full power, then I hold firmly the edge of my finger, stretch the skin, and then without hesitating, push it passed the saw. This should be the quickest and least painful way. Every step I took my finger started throbbing more. The pain was coming in, I really had to hurry. Thank god, as I came home, my mom was just getting into her car.
I had caught her just in time. My mom seemed very concerned when she saw my whole T-shirt drenched in blood, she asked me what happened. I just said there was a dog fight, and one dog bit me and I need to go to the hospital. My mom said she must see my finger, I just said no, it’s better if she doesn’t look at it. I had to show her in the end and she almost fainted. I gave her a smile and headed straight for the car. It was about 30km drive to the city, most likely a 20minutes wait until I get to the hospital. There was no surgeon so I had to wait again, maybe another 20 minutes, I don’t know. The first thing the doctor did, when he arrived was remove my T-shirt off my arm and view the injury.
It was then when my mom finally fainted. All the nurses seemed to disappear to help my mother. I actually found this quite funny. The doctor then brought out an injection, obviously morphine. I always hated needles, but this time it was bliss. I was so relieved that every time the injection was pushed into my finger, it was like a child receiving candy. Unfortunately after the operation, my mother asked if we should find a pharmacy. I knew this was difficult on Sunday so I made the mistake of saying that my finger was fine now. It was later that evening that I regretted not going to the pharmacy. I had to endure the entire night until the afternoon of the next day until my mother arrived with a strong painkiller. I had to stay in the house for 1 week to avoid picking up any infections on my finger. It was actually good; I did stay at home and for the first time, started reading the bible. I always believed in the Lord, but this actually grew my understanding and increased my belief. So in the end, it was good that the dog bit my finger ‘almost’ off.
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