Pit bull attack victim Moheal Raul Ramsaywack says that he plans to buy and sell fruits with the compensation money he expects to collect for his suffering but the dogs’ owner said he would prefer to enrol the man in a rehabilitation centre.
Joseph Satrohan told Stabroek News that he will not give Ramsaywack money that he is likely to fitter away but is willing to finance a rehab programme for the young man. He also said that he is awaiting word from the police who are still investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Ramsaywack remains an in-patient at the Georgetown hospital. He said Satrohan and other concerned persons have ceased visiting him. Ramsaywack had said that he has been living on the streets since the age of seven after he ran away from home. Sitting, looking out of a window Ramsaywack said that he is not in severe pain anymore although his ear hurts and he experiences sporadic headaches. “I gotta go back to the streets cause I ain’t got nowhere else to go” he said frankly, “but I would like to sell some pine if I get money from the man.” He said he has made friends with all his ward mates and some of them call him “Pit bull” a name he responds to with a small smile.
Ramsaywack chattily related that he “had luck” selling pine so he would like to do it again. “I gon sell other fruits too, but nobody ain’t telling meh nothing,” he added, referring to the money he hopes to get from Satrohan. He said the police visited him once to get his statement and they have not returned. Ramsaywack has been hospitalized since May 20 after three Pit bulls mauled him in an empty lot in Forshaw Street, Queenstown. He had been picking mangoes from trees in the lot at the time. He had told this newspaper in an earlier interview that as he stood under the tree to pick the fruit the dogs suddenly attacked him. He said he tried to run but tripped and fell and they launched a full attack. His scalp which was ripped off was reattached in an operation.
The attack on Ramsaywack followed that on Charles Roopchand a security guard of 2C Area H, Lusignan, ECD, was killed by a pack of dogs on the Ogle Airstrip road while on his way to work. Later that morning, Desiree London, the wife of Bishop Philbert London and resident of 123 Goedverwagting, ECD, was bitten on her arms and leg by the same dogs.
Earlier this year, full-blooded members of the breed bit two Tucville residents, as well as two employees of the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That incident had occurred after a woman in the area was alleged to have set the dogs loose on a group of children. Also, last year two Pit bulls attacked a North Ruimveldt jogger seriously injuring him. He underwent several operations to repair damaged ligaments in his limbs and was expected to go abroad for further treatment.
The attacks have prompted comments from citizens countrywide with many calling for the animals and their crossbreeds to be banned. Some persons also called on the authorities to enforce stringent penalties – even jail time – for dog owners who do not have strict measures in place as is necessary for this breed of dog.
