Reggio Emilia Five stitches on his right hand, a ten-day prognosis, and the shock of “a truly traumatic experience.” This is what remains for Simone Barilla, 42, a resident in via San Marco, in Canaliwho on Wednesday evening was attacked by a dog while, having just entered the park near the elementary school, he was taking his dog to the nearby walking area.
The attack was also filmed by some residents of the area and Barilla is able to show those dramatic images, as well as photos of the bleeding hand, with two deep wounds inflicted by the teeth of the dog that attacked him, a German shepherd. But Barilla is not the only one, he says, to have been bitten. Also Thor, his Amstaffwho is still recovering from surgery, was attacked while trying to defend his owner. And now Barilla fears he may have suffered serious injuries.
«What I want to get across is that the problem is not the dogs, but the owners – now presses the man, forced to stay at home with his hand bandaged and under therapy -. Animals are never at fault. We are the ones who have it, when we are not able to teach the animal how to behave.”
Barilla himself told us what happened yesterday morning, albeit with some difficulty given the sleepless night spent in pain at the emergency room of the Santa Maria Nuova hospital, from where he left at 4.30 on Thursday.
«When we got back from work, Thor and I left the house to go to the park – explains Barilla –. As soon as we turned the corner we heard a woman shout: “I don’t have a dog!”. I had time to look up when I saw a German shepherd running towards us. Thor immediately cowered. I thought he wanted to bite it and instinctively I wanted to crouch down to protect him. The other dog jumped on me in an instant and grabbed my hand. He didn’t leave my side.”
In excruciating pain, Barilla said he grabbed the head of the dog that was attacking him, in an attempt to stop him. Dramatic and excited moments, in which the instinct to defend one’s owner had the upper hand over the other dog.
«At that point Thor launched himself against those who were attacking me and bit the other dog on the ear. He tore it off,” he says. “I did what I could with my injured hand and the owner of the German shepherd, instead of helping me, ran away screaming. In the end, I was the one who got her dog’s collar and gave it to her.”
In the video shown, the woman is seen walking away screaming with the dog finally on a leash.
Simone Barilla was then accompanied to the hospital by his brother, who ran to Reggio from Scandiano. «At the hospital the doctor made the report – explains Barilla –. Investigations will begin on that dog. The neighbors came down saying that they too are tired and afraid of this situation. Now I will ask for legal advice, I intend to file a complaint. I’m worried about Thor, he stopped eating. I fear that the stitches he has in his intestine, where he was operated on two weeks ago for a tumor, have been damaged.” L
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