Pit Bull Federation of SA discourage people buying pit bull amid attacks
The Pit Bull Federation of South Africa has called on members of the public not to buy the breed after a growing number of attacks.
A 10-year-old boy from the Eastern Cape was mauled by his family’s two pit bulls earlier this week.
Cape Town – The Pit Bull Federation of South Africa has called on members of the public not to buy the breed after a growing number of attacks.
This call comes after a 10-year-old boy from the Eastern Cape was mauled to death by his family’s two pit bulls.
The incident occurred at their home in Antia Drive, Gelvandale, on Monday.
The provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, said: “At about 1.15pm, police were alerted to the incident and, on arrival, shot both dogs inside the house.”
The victim and two other children were in the house with the dogs, she said. It was unclear what happened when the two dogs turned on the boy.
“He succumbed to his injuries at the scene,” Naidu said.
She said police were forced to kill the dogs.
Speaking to John Perlman from 702, the public relations manager for the Pit Bull Federation of South Africa, Lins Rautenbach, said in the country, they have seen a large number of pit bulls being poorly bred by irresponsible breeders and are inherently aggressive, and this had led to a growing number of attacks.
Rautenbach told Perlman the temperament of dog is largely inherited than trained, so if a puppy is born to aggressive parents, it will likely be aggressive.
She stated a poor temperament in a dog cannot be rehabilitated.
Rautenbach said pit bulls could be remarkable dogs if bred and raised properly but went on to say too many people were breeding and adopting aggressive dogs they were not equipped to care for.
While many have called for a ban on owning a pit bull, Rautenbach said a ban would not be effective as people would only move to adopt a different aggressive dog breed.
However, she did call for criminal charges to be filed when a dog does attack and harms an individual.
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