Family and Polokwane SPCA set record straight on pitbull attack
The victim, who suffered severe injuries, was treated on the scene by emergency services personnel, and taken to hospital for further treatment.
POLOKWANE – Racial tension erupted at the scene where a pitbull terrier attacked a woman in Hospital Park on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the family of the dog owner, whose name is withheld due to legal reasons, there is a double entrance system at the gate in Van Warmelo Street to ensure the animal remains in the yard.
On Tuesday (Janaury 31) at around 17:00 however, as a young girl approached the gate to greet her father (who is not the dog’s owner) who had come to pick her up, the dog escaped through the first gate, only to seconds later slip through the gate closest to the street.
The dog proceeded to attack a female passerby, upon which the girl’s father and another passerby immediately intervened to get her to safety, sources close to the incident told Polokwane Observer.
As a crowd and commuters gathered at the scene, emotions started to run high and racial tension started building, as people suggested the dog had been let out on purpose.
Bystanders demanded that the owner be arrested for negligence and attempted murder.
The victim, who suffered severe injuries, was treated on the scene by emergency services personnel, and taken to hospital for further treatment.
According to the SPCA manager, Selma Landman, the owner of the dog upon, learning of the incident, gave permission for the animal to be put down by the police.
“The police informed us of the incident shortly after 18:00 and our SPCA field officer, Malose Lebelo went to the house and loaded the dog into his bakkie, which the crowd then threatened to set the bakkie alight. They demanded that the dog be shot on the scene.”
Lebelo, requested that they wait for the SPCA’s veterinarian to arrive to put the dog down, but bystanders said the police at this point already had their hands full controlling a growing crowd that kept demanding that the animal be shot forthwith.
“The police told us that it was the owner’s decision to have the animal shot, and officers on the scene were given permission from their superiors to do so. By this time, the sheer number of people present would have made it difficult for the vet to get into the yard.”
According to a source, the situation became more tense and the crowd started entering the family’s premises. The dog was then shot by a police officer, a source confirmed. Bullet shells at the scene suggested that the dog had been shot at several times.
Brig Mojapelo Mojafelo confirmed that the 29-year-old owner of the dog was arrested.
According to the man’s legal representative, he was detained for “keeping vicious dogs” and appeared in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday and Thursday.
The man and his wife declined to comment saying they had been advised to not speak to the media.
