By Shirley Thomas

FORTY-five-year-old Radhidai Ramcharran, who was mauled by pit bull dogs in her Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara neighbourhood three weeks ago, was on Monday taken down to the theatre to have corrective surgery done to her face.It was the second such procedure she’s had since being warded at the Georgetown Public Hospital following the incident.
Besides her face being disfigured, among injuries the widowed mother of four has suffered are a hole the size of a cricket ball at the crown of her head; a badly bitten left ear; and the loss of the right one.
THE ATTACK

Ramcharran, who only recently moved to the Bella Dam area of Pouderoyen, recalls that she was on her way to one of the shops in the neighbourhood around 19:30hrs when the incident occurred.
She said did not know that there were pit bulls in the street, until she saw them advancing towards her.
Thinking them to be harmless, she tried shouting and shooing them away with her handbag, but that did not work.
One grabbed her by the right foot; another the left; and the third by her left hand, and together they began chewing away on her.
At some stage, one of the animals snatched her by the crown of her head, and refused to let go, no matter how hard she struggled.
As a last resort, Ramcharran said, she jumped into a nearby caiman-infested trench, thinking that the dogs would back off. But they jumped right in behind her and continued their vicious attack.
Conscious that she was losing the battle, she said, she began screaming for help. A brave young man jumped into the water to rescue her, but the dogs turned on him, too, and severely bit him. It was not until another man snatched up a piece of iron pipe and dealt them several lashes that they dispersed.
The injured woman was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, but was quickly evacuated to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery.
NO COMPENSATION

Asked what sort of action the dogs’ owners have taken, Ramcharran said though both the man and his wife have twice visited since she’s been in hospital, they’ve made her no offer.
And once when her daughter asked about moving her to a private hospital, they chorused: “Who go’n look after that?” and walked away.
But, the dogs’ owners’ indifference and the constant pain aside, she still gets nightmares every time she lays down to sleep.
“Is like the dogs attacking meh all over again,” she said. “Many nights ah would jump outta meh sleep, screaming. Is something I’m not likely to get over in a hurry,” she resignedly said.
But above all, she would like the police to move to have the couple exercise some strict surveillance over the dogs. She feels the animals should be locked up in a kennel and certainly not be out on the road to cause such harm and injury to others.
As she observed, there are children living in the street, and they too are at risk of being attacked in like manner.
“In fact, if it was the children, those dogs woulda kill them,” Ramcharran said.