The photographs are unbearable to look at. Between the torn and bloody flesh we guess the remains of a right calf, forearms gnawed like medullary bone, a deeply perforated left thigh… “It’s a real butcher”blows Monique Boglietti, who is still reeling from the violent attack that her husband, François Giannesini, suffered last Wednesday.
As the 55-year-old finished his weekly run at around 4:30 p.m., as usual, on the avenue de la Vaugines in Draguignan, two Rottweilers, each weighing 45 kg, burst onto the path.
“They were on a leash and I couldn’t see the owner”, says François Giannesini on his hospital bed at the Draguignan hospital center (CHD). Reliving the scene before his eyes, the reserve officer moves forward to the present. “I do a quick analysis of the situation while trying not to show my fear. I wonder if the dogs will jump on me or not. Finally, in an attempt to fend them off, they attacked without thinking…”
“I was dragged to the ground”
Despite the physical and psychological pain, the soldier unfolds the story with unwavering courage. No detail is overlooked. “I was dragged on the ground for several meters by the two dogs, yet I weigh 90 kghe points out, holding his stomach. I still had the clarity to protect my neck and face by sacrificing my forearms. Otherwise I would be dead.”
How long did this massacre last? No one knows exactly. For François Giannesini, it seemed like an eternity. “I may have been on the ground for two minutes, but in my head it was hourshe admits. I played my life, I didn’t think anymore.” In one sentence he sums up the unthinkable: “I lived the horror.”
Throughout, he calls out several times for help. A woman arrives at the scene limp from her car. Out in his garden, Claude Baelen says he heard the screams. “The two rottweilers were like beasts”, describes the sex worker. And a few seconds later the owner arrives with scooter in hand. “He came to give me first aid by putting me in a lateral safety position by elevating my legs to stop the bleeding.”
“I want to create awareness”
“If it had been a child or an elderly person who had been attacked, it is clear and obvious that he would not have survived”assures François Giannesini.
After the assault, the man actually spent three hours in the operating room. In serious condition. “I lost more than two liters of blood in the hospital alone. And I had several hundred stitches. To put the bandages on me, you have to put me under general anesthesia.”, he explains. According to him, even the surgeon was shocked by the extent of the injuries. “He told me I was a ghost”.
Finallymore skin grafts will be necessary and a long recovery for this man “very physically active” is announced.
For the soldier, this testimony is the way to get a message across. “La Vaugines has been redesigned for soft mobilityhe emphasizes in a serious tone. The path is very busy, there are cyclists, joggers, walkers of all ages. It is not normal that such dangerous dogs can be found in public space, the public authorities must act, the population must act, it is not possible. In this situation, there could have been a death.”
In the meantime, it is a life, even more, that cuts. “Everything is on hold for several months, anyway”realizes his wife, Monique Boglietti. “As a self-employed person, I no longer have any income. I had plans to go on a mission for the army, everything was already planned. Now I no longer know what the future will bring.”.
Dangerous dog, what does the law say?
While an investigation has been opened by the Draguignan police station, the two Rottweilers have so far returned to their owner’s home, not far from Vaugines.
“All the inhabitants of the neighborhood are now afraid, some have even decided to arm themselvessays Claude Baelen, the neighbor who witnessed the accident. I don’t understand why these two trolls are still there, they need to be killed”, he says bluntly and specifies in passing that the fence that separates the mastiffs from the path “is very unsafe.
Another layer on the general tension in the neighborhood. The Rottweiler is categorized 2 out of 4 on the danger scale, i.e. “guard and defense dogs” – category 1 are “attack dogs” such as the American Staffordshire terrier, also called “pit bulls”. After all, euthanasia is far from systematic in the case of a bite on a human, even extremely serious.
A veterinarian from the Dracénoise clinic La Souris Verte explains: “If there are bites, the dogs must undergo health surveillance for fifteen days with two visits to the vet to check that they do not have rabies. If the absence of rabies is found, euthanasia will not be carried out.”
Except that in this case a “biting dog” procedure is currently being carried out by the prosecution at the Draguignan Magistrate’s Court.
Cédric Fevre, Divisional Commissioner, announces that a consultation has been made with the owner of the animals, adding that“a behavioral evaluation will follow. And if the dogs are deemed to be truly dangerous, they will be euthanized following the decision of the prosecutor’s office or the final verdict”.
He is prosecuted for involuntary injuries and faces at least one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if the ITT is less than 3 months, or 3 years in prison if the ITT is greater than 3 months.
The victim will be interviewed by the police on Wednesday.
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