Three purebred pit bulls died after killing a massive mamba outside their owner’s house in Valencia, Mbombela. Melissa Spider believes her dogs, whose race is often vilified, laid down their lives to save hers from a dangerous ‘intruder’.

Spider, the owner of I&M Industries in Valencia, says she and her family heard a rattling sound in their backyard last Monday, March 6, at about 18:00.

“A few metres from my kitchen door, Tobacco was smacking and shaking around a very big snake,” Spider says. The snake was attempting to enter a hole in the roof of the family’s house when the dog grabbed it.

“We grabbed spades and other steel stuff and rushed to help, but within seconds, the snake was torn into pieces.”

What followed next filled the Spider household with devastation. As soon as the snake was dead and the dogs had walked away, Baby and Tobacco, both pure pink-nose pit bulls, instantly started to vomit.

“I knew I had to react immediately,” Spider says. “As we got inside to attend to them, Puma (a pure American pit bull) cried for my attention.”

He too was reacting to the mamba’s venom.

She describes the three hours thereafter as the ‘most torturing moment of our lives’.

“Time was moving extra fast, and no medication was helping. As the hours went by, I sadly had to say my first goodbye to Tobacco as he took his last breath. Ten minutes later, Puma also took his last breath. Baby still looked okay, but after an hour she took a bad turn. We watched her battle for about 10 minutes, and we began to pray to God to release her. She took her last breath at 20:50.”

Spider says she hopes this testimony of sacrifice and devotion will change people’s perceptions of the pit bull breed.

“My three pit bulls, without hesitation, immediately responded to the enemy and destroyed him, protecting myself, my husband and my four young children, and shortly afterwards lost their lives.”

Chris Hobkirk of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and Lowveld Venom Suppliers says the snake’s behaviour is not abnormal for this time of year.

“Winter is on its way and summer is nearing its end. The snakes did not get enough food during the season due to the rain we [the Lowveld] had experienced, and therefore are coming out during the sunshine,” he says.

Although he says there is nothing households can do to prevent snakes from entering their yards, they can be proactive by keeping these clean.

“If the snake smells something in the yard, it will stay there to hunt.”

Hobkirk acknowledges that animals are the first line of defence and will alert and protect their households when they feel threatened.