Central SA
Elderly Northern Cape farmer killed by his dog─── 12:16 Mon, 06 Jan 2020
An elderly farmer has died after the boerboel dog he raised attacked him during a storm in the Vaalharts region of the Northern Cape, according to a report on Monday.
The dog bit 80-year-old Piet Lategan on his face, neck and shoulders on Friday afternoon after the farmer and his fiancée went out during a hailstorm to cover a vehicle in a shed with a blanket, according to Netwerk24.
One of Lategan's daughters, Annatjie Louw, said that the dog, Rex, who was very scared of loud noises, had attacked after reacting to the sound of the hail on the shed.
Relatives struggled to get the dog off Lategan and he died shortly after a doctor arrived on the scene. The dog was put down.
Another daughter, Betsie Swanepoel, told the local online publication FiND iT, that the dog was just three years old and had never been aggressive before.
The family described Lategan as a soft-hearted person who loved animals.
