People are urged to refrain from owning pitbulls as pets as the number of cases revealing how vicious the breed is rising. The recent attack on Sunday of a three year old from Bloemfontein has led society to retaliate, kill and burn the dogs out of anger. South Africa has since recorded the highest incidence of dog attack deaths in the world. Just last month, a 10-year-old boy from Gqeberha, named Storm Nuku, was mauled to death by his family’s two pit bulls. This month two cases were reported of the same nature when a boy aged three, was killed by two pit bulls whilst playing with his friends.
A PETITION TO REMOVE THEM FROM SOCIETY
Another boy (8 )also from Bloemfontein was recently buried after he was mauled by a pitbull. There are calls for the "man eater" dogs to be removed from society. Some of their owners have surrendered them but others don't want to let them go. The Sizwe Kupelo Foundation started a petition after the incident of the eight year old, calling for a ban on the breed as domestic pets in the country. The petition has close to 98 000 signatures. Founder and patron Sizwe Kupelo said: “We cannot continue losing young people like Storm Nuku to these vicious dogs that have shown time and again that they should not be kept as pets." Kupelo told Zimoja that they are targeting 50 000 signatures before handing over their petition to the department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. We started this petition to send a message to the SPCA that this breed is no longer welcome in our societies. "However, the National SPCA says it does not support this move, " Kupelo said.
LACK OF SKILL TO HANDLE POWER BREEDS
The spokesperson Nazareth Appalsamy said they never have and never will support any ban on any type of dog. "This is an issue where both human and animal life has been placed in danger by irresponsible people who lack the skills and knowledge required to handle power breeds,"read the statement. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says it is concerned by the number of children, workers and individuals who are being mauled by pitbulls and in some incidents, killed. They said this call for a ban on pit bulls has been driven by recent attacks on little ones. "Pit bulls have been genetically bred over many generations across the world for their propensity to violence. The dogs have spawned an industry of illegal breeders and dog-fighting syndicates run by gangs in some areas." The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) promised to explore legislation avenues to ensure that domestic pitbull ownership is prohibited in the country. The party said there are many existing breeds of dogs that don't pose a risk to humans.
