The dogs were on the trail of a large leopard that had led them into an area of very thick cover. The cat refused to tree, preferring to fight with the dogs. Recognizing the danger of the situation, Kruger had the handlers call off the dogs to let them rest and give the cat the opportunity to move out of the area. When they put the dogs out again to pick up the trail, they discovered the cat was waiting for them. It charged the party at a short distance, knocking over and attacking a dog handler called "Punki." Due to the obstructed visibility, Boddington simply could not see the dog handler was under the cat, which she thought had been wounded by Kruger when he shot at it as it charged. She shot at the leopard but struck the dog handler instead. Punki was rushed to a hospital where he was stabilized. In addition to the shot in his hip, his ankle and leg were chewed up badly in the leopard's attack.
When I sent out the initial bulletin about the incident, I was told that Punki was stable and doing well. So well, that he was supposedly doing upper body exercises to stay in shape while in the hospital. That report turned out to be overly-optimistic, as infection soon set in and I'm told Punki's condition became quite serious. He has since improved enough to be moved to a hospital near his home in South Africa.
I also reported that Brittany had created a recovery fund to........(continued)
