Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

My Russian neighbour recently acquired a large black Rottweiler/Labrador cross. We have been walking our dogs for 12 years with no problem. Last night as I walked close to the Green Palace restaurant the dog came around the corner with the Russian ar**hole's son. I knew I was in big trouble straight away. The dog went for my small male dog immediately and had his head in his mouth as we all wrestled on the ground. I smacked the dog on the head with a rock four or five times which made him let go but then it got worse. I screamed towards the restaurant for help but it was ages before Omer's son Osbey came to help. Luckily my neighbour Mike heard the commotion and came out. I asked him to grab my two dogs who were on leads, while I had the Rottweiler in a scissors hold and headlock. By the way if you were the two Brit couples sitting outside the restaurant, I hope you never need help and that you get some kind of response - which I didn't. I ended up with 15 lacerations to both arms, three of which were stitched up in Girne hospital. Omer called the police, who came while I was returning from the hospital. I made a statement at Lapta polis who were helpful and sympathetic. They went back to Sergei's and told him he has to put up steel railings immediately. They told him he will be in big trouble if I happens again, I pointed out that I, or my wife, could be dead!

Thanks to Mike for taking me to the hospital and waiting while I made the statement. As for the others who didn't even leave their seats, I hope you enjoyed your meal!

Very sorry to hear this Mark - must have been a very distressing situation - hope you recover. Did you enquire about a rabies jab or tetanus?
As you know Sally thought it might have been foxes on that scrub land that got our cat but now I wonder if was that dog.
Pleased that you haven't lost your wrestling skills!

Morning Mark,

So sorry to hear of your ordeal and wish you a speedy recovery.

"They went back to Sergei's and told him he has to put up steel railings immediately. They told him he will be in big trouble if I happens again, I pointed out that I, or my wife, could be dead!"

Seriously?.......If the owner cannot control the dog while out of his property, what is the point of railings??
Yes, it could have been a lot worse if you hadn't been a fit person to do what you did to protect your dogs and yourself....but what if it had been a child or an elderly person who could not defend themselves?

We are hearing too many incidents in regards to dog attacks and its about time Lapta Belediyesi and the polis took stiffer action against those who are irresponsible animal owners.

As for those who ignored your pleas for help....shame on them.

Shame on those Brits who did nothing to help you, hard to believe how people can be like that. The dog was bad enough but 'nowt so cowardly as folk'

Sorry to hear all of that. Sounds awful hope you get over it soon.
Just a bit concerned if you have had dog bites stitched. In the UK we were told that they shouldn't be stitched immediately as any infection will spread rapidly beneath the stitches and spread. Instead we had to go to the surgery nurse every day to get the wounds cleaned and dressed.
Hope you are ok but please take care of those stitched wounds.

paul90 wrote:Very sorry to hear this Mark - must have been a very distressing situation - hope you recover. Did you enquire about a rabies jab or tetanus?
As you know Sally thought it might have been foxes on that scrub land that got our cat but now I wonder if was that dog.
Pleased that you haven't lost your wrestling skills!

Mick McManus has nothing on me! I had a tetanus shot, don't think the dog is rabid, just a big lump. I feel bad about hitting the dog and hope he suffers no harm, It's the owner who needs putting down. The police confirmed he is Russian Mafia (not the dog), and wanted in Russia - funny place this! When I took the boy and the dog back to him, he tried to blame the six-year old boy for letting him out, takes some believing.

puppylover wrote:Morning Mark,

So sorry to hear of your ordeal and wish you a speedy recovery.

"They went back to Sergei's and told him he has to put up steel railings immediately. They told him he will be in big trouble if I happens again, I pointed out that I, or my wife, could be dead!"

Seriously?.......If the owner cannot control the dog while out of his property, what is the point of railings??
Yes, it could have been a lot worse if you hadn't been a fit person to do what you did to protect your dogs and yourself....but what if it had been a child or an elderly person who could not defend themselves?

We are hearing too many incidents in regards to dog attacks and its about time Lapta Belediyesi and the polis took stiffer action against those who are irresponsible animal owners.

As for those who ignored your pleas for help....shame on them.

Sally is in the UK, it could easily have been her.

So sorry to hear that Mark, it must have been terrifying, I hope you recover quickly from your injuries and that your dogs were unharmed. My husband was attacked by a neighbours dog earlier this year, it's not a pleasant experience, and while the police were very helpful at the time we have not heard one word as to what action has been taken against the owner, the dog is now chained up for 24 hours a day, never taken for a walk, so I daren't think what mental state it must be in now, it was crazy before.
Perhaps the belediyesi are waiting until a child is killed or maimed before they take some useful action against these cretins who shouldn't be allowed to keep a dog.
Get well soon Mark.

Panchocat wrote:Sorry to hear all of that. Sounds awful hope you get over it soon.
Just a bit concerned if you have had dog bites stitched. In the UK we were told that they shouldn't be stitched immediately as any infection will spread rapidly beneath the stitches and spread. Instead we had to go to the surgery nurse every day to get the wounds cleaned and dressed.
Hope you are ok but please take care of those stitched wounds.

I've got to go back tomorrow to get the dressings changed, the lovely young lady cleaned the wounds with iodine and applied liberal antibiotic cream. Guess I'll just have to hope for the best.

elizabeth wrote:So sorry to hear that Mark, it must have been terrifying, I hope you recover quickly from your injuries and that your dogs were unharmed. My husband was attacked by a neighbours dog earlier this year, it's not a pleasant experience, and while the police were very helpful at the time we have not heard one word as to what action has been taken against the owner, the dog is now chained up for 24 hours a day, never taken for a walk, so I daren't think what mental state it must be in now, it was crazy before.
Perhaps the belediyesi are waiting until a child is killed or maimed before they take some useful action against these cretins who shouldn't be allowed to keep a dog.
Get well soon Mark.

Our dogs are both OK, Frodo has a bite mark either side of his head. I really thought he would be killed. I suppose I took one for the team!

Thank you so much for looking after your dogs. It takes real bravery to fight off a big dog.

Hi what a dreadful thing to happen glad your dogs are OK.
A rottweiller attacked me last year & although one arm was not too bad it chewed the other down to the bone the State Hospital were brilliant they sent for Orthapedic Surgeon Huseyin Kalgay who was there in an hour. He stitched all the muscles & tendons back & the top stiches were very sparse & loose. They kept me in overnight & I had to have intravenous antibiotic 3 times a day for 5 days as well as oral antibiotic for 3 weeks. My arm was in plaster for a month & I thought I would never have full use of it again - but I have thanks to his skill!
I would very very strongly advise you to urgently seek proper medical attention as although you may not get rabies or tetanus you could get an extremely serious infection. People have died in UK from quite small accidental bites from their own dogs & also very sadly Bill Tutty from Lapta died here a couple of years ago from a dog bite, once sepsis sets in there is nothing they can do & the infection had spread to his brain.

I do have some Klamox 1000mg antibiotics in our medicine cabinet which we stocked up on. Do you think I should take a course now, just in case?

Well if they thought my injuries necessitated 5 days of intravenous injections 3 times a day plus oral antibiotic I think you should be seeing a doctor for 90 tl or so rather than just taking something you have in your bathroom cabinet!
They would obviously be better than nothing but it is your decision as to whether you want to take the risk.

Thank you for your advice. I'll see how things are when they change the bandages tomorrow.

Horrified and so sad to read this Mark.I know how treasured your dogs are and of course you went in all guns blazing . Please keep a careful eye on the bites,and on how you feel generally ,and see a doctor if you have any doubts. You know where we are if you need anything at all Jen and John

You poor sod, you were very brave, I could not have done what you did. Supposing had a child with you. Thought the police would have taken the dog. Look after those wounds.

I am so sorry to read of this incident and hope you will totally recover soon Frontalman - did the hospital not recommend a course of antiobiotics - they usually do for anything. Did the wounds bleed heavily ; That can actually sometimes be a good thing, for washing away infection!

I had a similar incident about 15 years ago : fortunately two Cypriots boys rescued me and my two puppies from two large dogs by throwing stones at the attackers. Fortunate because although I was younger and quite fit then, there is no way I could have coped as Frontalman did and I and/or pups could have been fatally injured.

Ever since I have been trying to promote a ban an importing and breeding dangerous dogs, without much support as the animal charities seem to prefer promoting microchipping which is no use if the" owner" is irresponsible and the authorities do not take action.

A Rottweiler/Labrador cross is unusual in itself. Afficaiandos say that Rottweilers are gentle if properly handled and I have experience that Labs are. This dog needs taking away from its owner and retrained (the dog that is). The owner should be banned for life from keeping animals as they to in the UK.

Please keep us informed how you get on healthwise and if there are any further developments regarding the dog

jen wrote:Horrified and so sad to read this Mark.I know how treasured your dogs are and of course you went in all guns blazing . Please keep a careful eye on the bites,and on how you feel generally ,and see a doctor if you have any doubts. You know where we are if you need anything at all Jen and John

Thank you for that, I appreciate it.

rocking wrote:You poor sod, you were very brave, I could not have done what you did. Supposing had a child with you. Thought the police would have taken the dog. Look after those wounds.

Thanks Rita, apparently there's no dangerous dogs laws here. Anywhere else the owner would be banged up for being negligent. I will be talking to my Avocat neighbour later to see if anything else can be done. It's been very quiet today and I fear he may already have dumped the dogs somewhere rather than pay for the work. We'll see, he's done that kind of thing before, he sees the dogs as just toys , like a bike or football. If this big dog has been dumped it means big trouble for anyone in the area where it's been dropped.

Ragged Robin wrote:I am so sorry to read of this incident and hope you will totally recover soon Frontalman - did the hospital not recommend a course of antiobiotics - they usually do for anything. Did the wounds bleed heavily ; That can actually sometimes be a good thing, for washing away infection!

I had a similar incident about 15 years ago : fortunately two Cypriots boys rescued me and my two puppies from two large dogs by throwing stones at the attackers. Fortunate because although I was younger and quite fit then, there is no way I could have coped as Frontalman did and I and/or pups could have been fatally injured.

Ever since I have been trying to promote a ban an importing and breeding dangerous dogs, without much support as the animal charities seem to prefer promoting microchipping which is no use if the" owner" is irresponsible and the authorities do not take action.

A Rottweiler/Labrador cross is unusual in itself. Afficaiandos say that Rottweilers are gentle if properly handled and I have experience that Labs are. This dog needs taking away from its owner and retrained (the dog that is). The owner should be banned for life from keeping animals as they to in the UK.

Please keep us informed how you get on healthwise and if there are any further developments regarding the dog

Thanks, I am taking antibiotics and have a feeling I'm going to be OK. When I said Rottweiler/Lab cross it was just my guess. It may be a specific breed, all I know is that it has a big head and shoulders, is a big ugly brute and you just have to look at it to know it is a killer. Again it's not the dog's fault - no bad dogs, just bad owners.

Sorry to hear about your injuries Mark. Hope they heal quickly.

As you say bad owner, not bad dog. If the dogs have gone and been dumped sadly this type of thing may happen again.
We have a walking pole with us each time we take our dog out, just in case. I would not hesitate to give a rogue dog a good tweak on the nose if necessary, but if the owner was responsible there should be no need.

Hopefully your dogs are ok and not traumatised by the incident. Dissapointing that no one came to help initially.

I don't think that would have stopped him, I might carry a baseball bat in future. I'm beginning to think the dog might be a pitbull cross. It was only when someone mentioned the word pitbull to me that I realised that's maybe what it is. I did say it was an ugly brute, bless him.

We have had this discussion before ; the worst thing is that if this dog has been dumped it will breed and the wild packs, which currently mainly contain friendly dogs, will become stronger and vicious!

I have long carried a stick to protect against strays before I needed one for support. But I doubt if I have the will or the skill to seriously stop a vicious dog with one, most of us dog lovers hesitate to to seriously hurt an animal even when attacked, and of course there is always the risk of enraging the dog more.

Best thing to deter a misbehaving dog is water, preferably from a hose , I even use one on my own dogs when they bark too much. If that is not convenient throw stones at it , or them, if at a distance and if you dont want to hurt just skittle them round their paws.

Any ideas fromanyone re protection: perhaps dogs walkers should start carrying mace or pepper sprays for protection.

Faced with a similar situation - Instead of trying to grab it by the collar and pull try and grab its back legs and lift them up in the air, they have to let go of the dog they are attacking as they loose their balance and fall over. They also can't get far enough round to get their teeth into you, It works I'm under 5ft and the dog was over 50kgs just need to hold your nerve and keep the back legs up, it's a bit scary to begin with.
Very worrying if they have dumped the dog but I totally despair of the cat/dog issues here.
Re risk of infection if they have sutured over a bite I strongly suggest you have antibiotic cover or see a Medical practitioner, the dogs teeth carry bacteria which will rapidly multiply in the warm wet pocket that is created at the base of the wound.
Thank you for making local dog owners aware of the problem

Loobyloo wrote:Faced with a similar situation - Instead of trying to grab it by the collar and pull try and grab its back legs and lift them up in the air, they have to let go of the dog they are attacking as they loose their balance and fall over. They also can't get far enough round to get their teeth into you, It works I'm under 5ft and the dog was over 50kgs just need to hold your nerve and keep the back legs up, it's a bit scary to begin with.
Very worrying if they have dumped the dog but I totally despair of the cat/dog issues here.
Re risk of infection if they have sutured over a bite I strongly suggest you have antibiotic cover or see a Medical practitioner, the dogs teeth carry bacteria which will rapidly multiply in the warm wet pocket that is created at the base of the wound.
Thank you for making local dog owners aware of the problem

Thank you for your good advice, I hope I won't have to put it into practice. I went to have my dressings changed at Camlibel Health Centre at 8.30 this morning and the wounds seem to be healing nicely. Left arm is still very sore though. There are very professional emergency workers on duty there. The service there is totally free and I had to force the lady at Girne on Thursday night to take 30TL. We have always only had positive experiences when it comes to health treatment here, in the TRNC - I thought I'd say that because often one finds negative comments.

Glad you are healing we think the emergency health care here is brilliant.
On another subject it beggars belief that a few years ago TRNC deported an English guy for being a HAIRDRESSER whereas 'wanted' Russian Mafia are allowed to stay!!

Money talks, unfortunately.

I hope you make a full recovery, and i don't just mean physically i also mean mentally as dog attacks can cause just as much emotional damage in the long term.

i believe this dog is the same dog (sounds identical) to the one that locals say was terrorising the school in karsiyaka (local primary school) it kept coming back trying to attack some of the children whom were terrified ,but fortunately it disappeared after staff eventually scared it away and then school broke up for summer. if it is the same dog (that was a rottweiler cross lab) it is extremely dangerous and should not be allowed out at all off a lead.

mermaidsexist wrote:I hope you make a full recovery, and i don't just mean physically i also mean mentally as dog attacks can cause just as much emotional damage in the long term.

i believe this dog is the same dog (sounds identical) to the one that locals say was terrorising the school in karsiyaka (local primary school) it kept coming back trying to attack some of the children whom were terrified ,but fortunately it disappeared after staff eventually scared it away and then school broke up for summer. if it is the same dog (that was a rottweiler cross lab) it is extremely dangerous and should not be allowed out at all off a lead.

Thank you for that, I think I will be OK emotionally but appreciate your concern. It probably is the same dog, as the young Russian boy, Sergei junior goes to that school. I spoke to Sergei senior today and he said he was looking after the dog for a friend until September. He said he will keep the dog inside the house until then. The dog was standing next to him outside the house when he said it. I'm getting back to the police tomorrow when Yalcin (pronounced Yalchin) comes back on duty. Yalcin speaks good English so if you need Lapta polis, always ask for him. Their no is 0392 8218512

I went back to the Lapta police station today and told Yalcin that Sergei has no intention of paying for a fence as the dog belongs to a friend of his who is in Moscow, allegedly. I mentioned the Karsiyaka school incident as well. Yalcin said he would come and see Sergei again today. True to his word he turned up later in a large police vehicle with three other officers. I heard him speak to Sergei's TC neighbours before confronting Sergei. He made Sergei promise to keep the dog confined at home, which I was not satisfied with so I ran round to join them. I said I had not even had an apology, at which point Sergei did apologise. I told the police that he has no responsibility or common, sense, so I could not trust that he would maintain any commitment to confine the dog. Yalcin said to just let the police know if I see the dog outside the house.

To be fair to Lapta police, they have now visited Sergei's house on three occasions over this incident. He looked visibly worried by the attention of the authorities and the TC neighbours made it known that they are not happy with him either, so I suppose it's not a bad result in the end. At least I know that Lapta police take these things seriously, and have done something.

I live next to the school in question and this is my take of the dog. It looks nothing like a Rottweiler or any kind of Bull Terrier that I know of. It's a young black medium size long haired dog. I have witnessed the owner walking his son to school accompanied by the dog. The son goes into the school, the father returns home with the dog. The problem occurs when the son goes to school on his own with the dog. The boy goes into the school leaving the dog outside. Many Cypriots both adults and children are spooked by dogs and overreact that way to the puzzled dog that's left outside the school. I have never witnessed that dog to be aggressive to people and I saw it most mornings. The dog eventually makes its own way home. It has to pass my gate and stops for a few minutes to play with the younger of my three dogs before it's chased away by my cat. My dogs live in our garden and will react accordingly to any aggressive dog that they sense could be a problem. Some dogs have issues with other dogs for whatever reason perhaps this dog has.

He has two dogs, Taff. The dog you are speaking of is a seven-month old puppy who I walk with my dogs. In fact he is in my garden now playing with Buffy and Frodo. The other dog Sergei is keeping is the problem dog. It's when this dog gets out when the problems start and which has resulted in my injuries. No need to apologise though, you weren't to know.

OK Mark. I've never seen the dad or the boy out with any other dog.

The dog is vicious to other male dogs except the one he lives with, who is as soppy as a two bob watch. The reason I say he is irresponsible is that he lets the little one roam the streets despite the obvious dangers. I've only seen this this bigger dog out by himself twice, once when he got to our back gate and tried to rip off Frodo's face through the rails. On that occasion he ran off when I threw stones at him. It was then that I warned Sally to always be on her guard and make sure she has her phone with her. I sent you a text warning you as well. The second time was when I got my arms bitten badly.

For anyone still worrying about this dog, there is good news. He was taken away today by one of Sergei's friends who will be looking after it. I must say Sergei did keep the dog confined to his house since the biting incident, which was sad for the dog, but kept us safe.

Lets hope the poor dog has a better quality of life now.......if he isn't neutered then that might of helped with his aggression to other male dogs

frontalman wrote:For anyone still worrying about this dog, there is good news. He was taken away today by one of Sergei's friends who will be looking after it. I must say Sergei did keep the dog confined to his house since the biting incident, which was sad for the dog, but kept us safe.

The only problem is that this problem dog is taken elsewhere and the new neighbours don't know of the dangers

This is very true, but let's hope the new keeper is a bit more responsible that the last one. If I could speak Russian I would try to find out where it has gone.