Child mauled by dogs, brave women come to the rescue

Estella Naicker

WITHOUT a single thought for their own safety, a Vryheid mother and daughter ran into the street to rescue a 10-year-old boy being mauled by two pit-bull cross dogs.

When Katinka Fraser and her mother, Rina Rafferty, first heard Lunga Khanyile shouting, they assumed that it was just the sound of children playing outside.

“At first, I didn’t pay any attention, because there are a lot of children in the neighbourhood and they are always shouting and laughing when they get together to play. When he screamed again, I heard the actual terror in his voice, and I went outside to see what was going on,” said Katinka.

“One pit-bull had grabbed one of the boy’s arms in its jaws, the other pit-bull had his other arm, and they were dragging the boy into the street. Every time I close my eyes I still see that image. Mum broke a stick off the nearest tree and both of us ran out to try and frighten the dogs away.”

According to Katinka and Rina, one of the dogs ran off when the two women ran into the street, “screaming like banshees,” and waving the stick. The other dog continued to bite at the child’s arm for a while, before also retreating.

“By the time we managed to chase the dogs off, Lunga had been bitten all over his arms. There were deep gashes and there were areas where it was clear that the dogs had bitten chunks of flesh right off,” said Rina.

“Somehow the boy managed to stand up on his own. He was crying and he was hurting. He looked like a 10-year-old boy that has just gone through hell and just wanted to get to his mother. We walked with him to his house and his neighbour took him inside to his mother. As I was walking back home, the pit-bulls came after me but I managed to get into my yard safely.”

“When Lunga came into the house, I thought my son was going to die,” said Mrs Khanyile.

“He was covered in blood. He was so scared that he couldn’t even breathe or walk. I called the ambulance, but a family member took him to the hospital before the ambulance arrived. I am amazed at the courage shown by the 62-year-old woman and her daughter, who went to help my son, despite the danger of the dogs attacking them as well. If they were not there, I would have been telling you a different story. I owe these women my child’s life.”

Mrs Khanyile explained that Lunga had been crossing the street to visit his friends when the incident occurred.

“This is not the first time that these dogs have attacked people. They once grabbed a lady who was returning from work and dragged her by her dreadlocks. They have even bitten the man who sells ice-cream on his bicycle. The children in the area know what happened to my son and they are scared to play outside their own homes,” complained Mrs Khanyile.

“I think these dogs need to be given to someone else, who can take proper care of them and keep them in the yard, or they need to be removed from the community completely.”

Katinka said she started noticing the pit-bull cross dogs roaming the streets about a month ago.

“One of them bit my German Shepherd’s muzzle through our fence. They tear the rubbish bags on the street at night and they are generally a nuisance,” she said.

SPCA vice-chairperson, Stephan Vickers, confirmed that both dogs were collected off the street and taken to the SPCA on Monday. He said the dogs had not shown any signs of aggression while at the SPCA.

“It is sad that this incident is going to add people’s misconception about the pit-bull breed. A pure bred pit-bull is actually a very calm, loving, loyal and playful pet. It is only when pit-bulls are cross-bred that you end up with an unpredictable dog,” said Mr Vickers. “In most cases, you can’t even actually blame the dog. It’s the owners that are at fault.”

“The owner of the dogs is not in town but he has been contacted. Once he returns, we will chat to him and do a home-check to make sure his yard is secure. We will not release the dogs back into his care unless we are completely sure that it is safe to do so. It is not up to the SPCA to decide if the dogs should be put down. That is up to the courts to decide once the police have completed their investigation. Lungas parents can lay a charge against the owners and hold them liable for the suffering Lunga has endured, but this is a civil matter, not an SPCA matter,” said Mr Vickers.

“Dog owners have a responsibility to ensure that their pets are contained inside their yard. Dogs roaming the streets can cause accidents. A car could ride over the dog, or the dog could bite a child, like it did in this case,” he advised.

The case is being investigated by the Vryheid SAPS. Lunga is recovering at the Vryheid Hospital and has been sedated to cope with the terrible pain he is in.