Three pit bulls were stoned and burnt to death by angry residents after severely attacking a child in Cape Town on Sunday.
The incident took place in Gatesville, Athlone. It was also the second incident reported to the SPCA of dogs being set alight in one weekend.
“The dogs had attacked a young girl in a Gatesville field,” said the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.
“The child also sustained severe injuries and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.”
ANGRY COMMUNITY TAKE ACTION
“The community took matters into their own hands and attacked the dogs, stoning, stabbing and hitting the animals with objects before burning them to death.”
Inspector at SPCA Jeffrey Mfini, who rushed to the scene, found the dogs burning and extinguished the flames. They had also succumbed to their injuries. Post-mortems will be done at the SPCA in Grassy Park.
“We urge the public to contact the SPCA if a dog behaves aggressively or tries to bite someone,” said the SPCA’s chief inspector Jaco Pieterse.
“We will take the dog immediately. People must not take matters into their own hands. No animal deserves to endure brutality and suffering.”
Dog owners who wish to surrender their pit bulls to the SPCA should contact the inspectorate at 021 700 4158/9 or 083 326 1604. Community members are also encouraged to report cruelty to animals using the same numbers. The SPCA also elaborated on its stance regarding calls for the breed to be banned in South Africa.
PIT BULLS STONED
The movement does not support the petition to ban or outlaw pit bulls. But we fully support the motion to develop and implement stronger regulations/legislation with regard to the keeping and breeding of power breed dogs,” they said.
