Following is the email I sent to my friend Sylvia on June 4 documenting the attack by a neighbour's dog at 3:30 that afternoon. I sent her the email late at night to document the attack if needed for future reference, and also to check how coherent I was mentally and emotionally after such a vicious assault.
It has been too stressful to post about the attack until now. Every time I discuss the event I relive it to some degree. I eventually found a nurse practitioner to attend to my injuries several weeks after the attack. Two months later the wounds are still open and I'm receiving regular treatment for them at the wounds out patient clinic at Peterborough Hospital. I reported the attack to the Marmora Animal Enforcement Officer.
June 4/23
sent 11:45 pm
Morley drove his new friend back to her retreat in Booster Park, and then drove me to Emerg in Cford. The dog attack was at 3:30 and we arrived at Campbellford Hospital Emergency Triage at 3:30. The triage nurse was friendly and recorded my wounds and then bathed my shin wounds with saline solution. Both wounds were deep - the left leg so deep at first I thought the white stuff was bone instead of flesh. Both of the punctures were large and deep, with large skin folds. She said the gash behind my ear where I had fallen on the running board didn't look too serious, although when I had Morley look at he said it looked about 6 inches long and quite deep (can't remember if he said a 1/4 inch or more). He was sure it needed stitches.
I explained to the triage nurse it had been an unprovoked surprise attack by a large dog. I believe it's an otter terrier, perhaps a Belgian one, trained to hunt and kill otters (sort of the Canadian version of a coon dog like Hector) large and vicious with big jaws and teeth. Not a typical house pet for obvious reasons. The triage nurse said it was mandatory in dog bite cases for a report to be filed. But . . . I sat in the emerg waiting room from 4:30 to almost 9:30 without seeing a doctor. I was in mild shock and pain from being knocked over and hitting the back of my head on the metal running board of a truck while the dog savaged both my legs. I had to call twice for the woman owner to help me. She finally came to see me, but I don't remember her helping me stand up. She asked if I was OK, and as I was dripping (pouring) blood from at least three wounds, I said I wasn't and walked home. Neither she nor her husband came over to check on or assist me.
After sitting in the Emerg waiting room for almost five hours without being attended to, I unwound the leg bandages to inspect the wounds. As it looked like I might be stuck all night with coughing patients, many of who came long after I arrived and were then treated, I decided to leave without medical attention. I went to the admission desk outside the Emerg waiting room and the nurse told me Morley had just called to enquire about me. We had been told to expect a three hour waiting time, so Morley had gone home. It was a coincidence my patience ran out within minutes of Morley's call, so I had the nurse call Morley to pick me up and I left the hospital and waited in the cold night air for him to pick me up. I got home around 10:30.
Because a doctor never attended to me, I never had the chance to fill in the dog bite report. Morley thinks I should call the police, but you know how I feel about that : ) So unless I change my mind, or the neighbours develop a conscience, there's a very vicious dog lurking across the street now, waiting for the next victim.
I still plan to go for my afternoon Catscan appointment tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see how I feel in the morning.
I ended up including more details than initially planned to record an immediate documentation, although I'm not sure why.
A great irony is June 4th is the anniversary of Cford Emerg saving my life last year by diagnosing the tumour.
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