http://www.telegraaf.nl/krant/archief/19990810/teksten/
bin.rottweilers.html
Rottweilers fatally savage their owner
by Margot Kleijn - GENDT, Tuesday
As has now been made public, two rottweilers bit
their 37-year old owner, Alfred Janssen, on Sunday
afternoon in the village of Hulhuizen in the Betuwe
(ed: central Holland).
The police, who had been alerted by a neighbour, had to
shoot the two aggressive dogs before they could approach
the victim. The solitary dog owner, who had been horribly
mutilated, was discovered to have died already.
The two dogs, Arco an Axel, were first cornered and
then shot when it became clear what they had done.
Two attacks
===========
According to police spokesperson A. Elsendoorn, the
victim was first attacked near the rear entrance to
his property, as evidenced by traces of blood, head
hair and his watch that were found there. The man
was attacked again when he tried to escape
along his driveway and then bled to death as a
result of his serious wounds.
A month ago a friend of the man was also bitten in the
leg by the dogs and had to be treated by a doctor.
"There were no complaints received by us about this
drama", said the police spokesperson.
Although no official complaints had been made,
the whole neighbourhood knew that the two
animals couldn't be trusted. One of the pair
was particularly aggressive. "We know that some
of the mans neighbours and family had warned
the man, but he was stubborn", said a neighbour.
Strangers didn't dare go near the house because of
various warning signs. 'Lie down and wait until
help comes', says the warning on one of the signs
on the high fence around the house.
According to the police, it was known that the victim
suffered from epileptic fits. In addition, he may
well have been drinking alcohol that Sunday afternoon.
A fit cannot be ruled out. In any case, the dogs did
not react well to his behavior.
Mrs. Brouwer, Janssen's immediate neighbour, would only
say that the victim was vert attached to his dogs. "They
were all he had after his parents died."
Although the neighbours said that the dogs had a
pedigree, the dogs were not registered with the
Dutch Rottweiler Club. According to the club's president,
F. Schaaf, the rottweiler is one of the four races on the
ministry's list that must be tested for aggression.
"Our club makes very high demands of the behavior of this
type of dog and they are very carefully bred, but we don't
know what happened with these animals and what the
relationship between the owner and the dogs was. They felt
threatened in some way and then chose attack as the best
means of defense", said the spokesperson.
A notice on the fence at Alfred Janssen's house warns
of free-running rottweilers. The macabre text reads:
"If the dogs appears, lie down on the ground and wait
until help comes. If help doesn't come: good luck ..."
Simon North
tech writer and translator