THE dog involved in an attack on two children, one of whom was killed outside their Mayville home at the weekend, has been put down together with three other dogs who lived on the property.
Lindsey Concer of the Durban & Coast SPCA said the organisation would not be investigating the dog attack as its primary concern was to deal with cruelty to animals. She said there had been no contravention of the Animal Protection Act by the owners of the dogs who had requested that the dogs be euthanased.
“We were called to the scene in Mayville. The owner of the dogs signed an ‘owners request’ (meaning signed over the dogs with a request to humanely euthanase) for all four dogs on the property. This included a male adult cross breed, female adult pit bull and two cross breed puppies. The male adult cross breed was the dog responsible for attacking the children. The dog first attacked a six year old boy who is currently in hospital, before turning on the three-year-old toddler who paramedics said died at the scene.” Concer said.
The six year old boy, who was bitten in the face, is set to undergo surgery today at a local hospital where the family has gathered. The children’s grandfather, Cyril Hughes, confirmed that the dog had first attacked his grandson, but when his granddaughter came out, the dog turned on her. His grandson managed to run away, despite having been bitten in the face.
Reports indicate that a few children were playing outside when the dogs suddenly attacked. The children’s grandmother, who was home at the time, rushed out to try to save them but was too late to save her granddaughter. It is believed that the family has had the dogs for a few months. The dogs’ previous owner was the children’s deceased uncle. The children, who were looked after during the day by their grandmother, were familiar with the dogs on the property.
