ICYMI: Owners held accountable for Pitbull mauling incidents

The Pitbull Federation of South Africa says it holds owners and some breeders accountable for mauling incidents. 

This, after a 10-year-old boy from Gqeberha was mauled to death by two family pitbulls recently. 

PITBULL OWNERS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE 

There has been a sharp increase of incidents where people have been mauled to death or critically injured by dogs, especially pitbulls and other mixed breeds. 

The Pitbull Federation of South Africa has since cautioned people to think twice about buying the breed. 

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Lins Rautenbach from the federation said there are a number of reasons for the root cause of these incidents. 

“Firstly, the popularity of the Pitbull has exploded in South Africa where everyone  wants to own a Pitbull. We are noticing teenagers who are getting Pitbulls, we are noticing people wanting Pitbulls for security reasons. There is this misconception that they are the ideal family dog for every family and they are not, they are very hard work,” she said. 

Rautenbach said another reason is that there is an irresponsible element within the rescue and animal welfare industry that promotes pitbulls as the dog for everybody. 

“They believe that problem dogs with problem temperaments can be rehabilitated,” she continued.

Owners were not spared as the root cause of the spiraling incidents. 

“We  see another problem with kind hearted and loving owners who have bought into the hype of this nanny dog and source them from the backyard or wrong breeder or buy from the shelter with emotions. We then have people who own the dogs for an ego extension and these are the people that are particularly dangerous because they get these dogs with poor temperaments then they train them up to be aggressive because in their minds it looks impressive,” she said.  

ELDERLY WOMAN MAULED BY TENANT’S DOG

In another incident, a 62-year-old Jaybee Cloete from Heidelberg, Gauteng, was severely mauled when a tenant’s dog attacked in June this year.

As previously reported, according to Cloete’s daughter Gretha Prinsloo the dog is a Staffordshire Terrier – Boerboel mix breed dog. She said her mother fought for her life during the attack.

“On Tuesday morning, 28 June 2022, one of the tenants phoned my mother and asked her to come and look as the electricity went off.

“Shortly after that, she went to the communal yard of the tenants to check the electricity box. When my mother looked up, the dog was standing there, looking at her before attacking her,” Cloete explained.

ALSO READ: A 10-year-old boy MAULED to DEATH by family’s two Pitbulls

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