Pit bull maulings can’t be legislated away, argues animal rights group

The catfight to have pit bulls banned after another child was mauled to death over the weekend has intensified as a political party and a union joined the call to ban the breed.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has called for the ban of domestic pet ownership of all breeds of pit bulls in South Africa.

The party also encouraged pitbull owners to voluntarily hand over the dogs to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to avoid further attacks and retaliation by communities to pitbull attacks.

This follows after the death of a three year old in Hennenman, Free State, the mauling of an 8-year-old boy in Vista Park, Bloemfontein, and a 10-year-old boy in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, recently.

Community members stabbed, stoned and burnt three pit bulls after the dogs allegedly attacked a young girl over the weekend.

ALSO READ: Pit bull petition to protect humans and animals endorsed by NSPCA

Pit bulls ‘an aggressive breed’

“It has become patently clear that pit bulls are not suitable for domestic breeding, especially in conditions that may not be favourable to their existence, such as limited living space,” the party said.

“They are an aggressive breed which attack humans viciously and this is exhibited by their tendency to attack the human neck, rendering their attacks fatal.”

The EFF said ownership of pit bulls was often used as a deterrent to crime and home invasions, meaning they were deliberately bred to attack humans.

ALSO READ: Child killed by pitbull that jumped fence while playing outside

“The attack on children exposes how illogical it was to think that dogs can differentiate between which humans were a threat or not.”

Sizwe Pamla, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) national spokesperson, said the union supported the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation’s petition calling for the breed to be banned.

“This has spawned an industry of illegal breeders and dog-fighting syndicates run by gangs in some areas. This has resulted in many countries experiencing similar traumatic incidents and banning such breeds. SA now needs to follow suit,” he said.

Estelle Smit, CEO of Underdogs SA Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre, said it was wrong to ban the breed. “You can’t blame one breed. It’s discrimination.

“The dog that killed a child is horrific, but one of those dogs was not even a pit bull. The other dog looked like a cross pit bull; it is not a pit bull,” she said.

ALSO READ: Angry residents, stab, stone and burn three pit bulls after they mauled a girl

Ban not silver-bullet solution

Animal Welfare Society of South Africa spokesperson Allan Perrins said it would never support a call for a ban, or the outlawing of the breed, or any form of draconian breed-specific legislation.

“There are less than 100 000 people in favour of an outright ban, which is hardly representative of the wishes of the majority.

“Anyone who perceives a ban of the breed as a silver-bullet solution will be disappointed to know that you cannot simply legislate a problem away,” he said.

ALSO READ: Pitbull ban ‘unnecessary’

Perrins said adopting an indifferent eye-for-an-eye stance or taking the law into your own hands was unacceptable.

“Our mandate is the prevention of cruelty to animals and the fostering of good animal care – but we also value human lives. We would subsequently be remiss to trivialise the current disastrous situation that has already cost too many lives,” he said.

Perrins said the society strongly supports the proposal to develop and implement stronger legislation with regards to the keeping of all power breeds.

NOW READ: Bloemfontein residents surrender 49 pit bulls to the SPCA

– marizkac@citizen.co.za