A British-Iranian barber who was attacked by vicious dogs during a vacation in Las Vegas worries that the injuries sustained to his feet won’t allow him to work and make a living.
Ali Ghavasi of Bristol, located in southwestern England, was attacked by two pit bulls after they ran out of a nearby garage and jumped on him. The dogs bit the 43-year-old man’s legs and hips before their owner called the dogs away, leaving Ghavasi lying badly injured on the street.
Ghavasi said he had to crawl back to the house where he was staying because his foot was so badly injured.
He told The Bristol Evening Post, “The owner came to take the dogs away but I was shocked that he just left me shaking on the floor. I could not believe that he did not help me. He just left me on the street. No one came so I just crawled the 50 yards.”
The Iranian-British barber, who owns Hair on the Hill in Cotham, England, was visiting family in the United States over the Easter holidays. He had gone outside to make a phone call when the dogs mauled him.
Ghavasi, who has lived in Bristol for a decade, said the door to the garage where the pit bulls were kept had been left partly open. “The garage was open just half a foot and the pit bulls came from the garage and were just coming for me,” he told the newspaper.
“I was shocked and was not prepared to deal with it. I just stopped and thought they might too but they grabbed at my hip and my leg, then my other leg. I was just scared. It was two dogs biting me all over. I cannot forget it.
“I said, ‘That’s your dog?’ but he said ‘sorry’ and just went inside,” Ghavasi recalled.
Ghavasi was later taken to the hospital for treatment; when doctors told him he needed surgery, he opted to wait until he returned to England. nHe flew back accompanied by a nurse and is now on morphine to deal with the pain.
Ghavasi said Las Vegas animal control officers spoke with him when he was in hospital in the US but said he doesn’t know whether they took any action. The Iran Times called the Las Vegas animal control to see if the dog owner was cited, but did not receive any further information.
Ghavasi, who was formerly a wrestler, says he is now worried about how he will make a living because he needs to stand for his work but does not know when he will be able to get back on his feet.