Cyclist chased by four Maremma dogs and bitten in the calf: he has a ten-day prognosis.
The wounded
A bad adventure that happened to Salvatore Pace, a 42-year-old worker from Gambettola who is passionate about two wheels, while on Thursday morning, alone between Bivio Montegelli and Montegelli, in a countryside area of the municipal territory of Sogliano about 4 kilometers outside Bivio, he was pedaling in the saddle to its Gravel (in English it means “gravel”), a type of bicycle halfway between a MTB and a city bike that allows you to travel on both asphalt roads and dirt paths.
The surprise attack
«While I was pedaling – says the victim – I found myself at Bivio Montegelli and continued towards the hill, in via Monteboso, on a stretch of dirt road which shortly afterwards became asphalted. Suddenly I heard barking and saw four large Maremma shepherd-type dogs coming out of an open gate. One of the four animals reached me and bit me on the left calf. I screamed in pain and in terror I continued to pedal with even greater vigor to escape that attack. A boy who was part of a group of cyclists coming from the opposite direction, to whom I reported the danger and my bad misadventure, told me that it was not the first time that the four dogs on that road became the protagonists of rabid chases towards cyclists. As a precaution, he himself equipped himself with an ultrasonic whistle to ward them off.”
Visit and report
The unfortunate person immediately turned to his trusted doctor who immediately directed him to the emergency room of the Bufalini hospital in Cesena. The doctors found a “superficial trauma from a dog bite”: “They judged me to be curable in about ten days – Pace reports – but they recommended trying to understand whether the animal that bit me was not suffering from a possible rabies or other illnesses. So, still quite sore, the next day I went to the police station in Gambettola to file a detailed complaint. The police who took my statement told me that they will now identify the owners of the dogs through the Sogliano barracks. I think that in the end I will ask them for compensation for all the damages suffered.”
Risk reporting
But a thought also goes to other potential victims: «I received a painful bite, but by managing to escape I managed to avoid worse trouble. If we don’t intervene with appropriate measures, I wonder what could happen if other cyclists were attacked and fell to the ground.”
