POLOKWANE – Stray dogs and even dogs that get out of their yards have become more than just a hindrance to some after some residents were attacked by them.
David Beukes said he recently found himself on the wrong side of an American pit bull terrier during his daily morning run.
Beukes’ routine jog at 06:00 each morning takes him down Suid Street and up and down several streets perpendicular to Suid Street, ending with a jog up Marshall Street to home.
“I had just turned into Burger Street when I saw the dog standing on the pavement. I did not pay it much mind and continued to jog past the dog.
“The next moment the dog turned around and barked at me as he stormed towards me. I increased my speed, but the dog kept following me and on the next corner, it was on top of me and bit me on my right leg,” Beukes described.
He said he fell to the ground and tried to fight the dog off of him, but the dog kept biting him, this time on his hands. It was only when a motorist stopped and started screaming at the dog that it ran off, he said.
“The motorist assisted me into his car and drove me to the hospital where I was treated and had to get seven stitches,” Beukes said.
Motorcyclist Danny Webber told Review that he often had to make emergency turns or stops due to dogs chasing him on his motorbike. “It seems that some dog owners just don’t care about other people. They leave the dogs to get through, over or under fences and some people even leave their gates open,” he said.
He said in Voortrekker Street, there was a German Shepherd that kept jumping over the fence and chasing anyone in the street. “I have spoken to the owner of the dog several times, but the problem persisted. It only stopped when the dog was accidentally hit by a car,” Webber told Review.
According to the Polokwane Municipality, people who do not keep their animals safely withing their own premises can be held accountable for the action of the animal and can be given a fine of R1 000.
Municipal By-law 20(1) and (2) of the by-laws of Polokwane Administrator’s Notice 1387 of 14 October 1981 states that no person may keep a dog if his or her premises are not properly and adequately fenced.
This by-law gives the SPCA who has been appointed by the municipality the right to pick up such animals and have them impounded. When seen fit, the SPCA is also given the power by the municipality to destroy such an animal if found that the animal cannot be looked after (kept in a safe environment).
Beukes said he would like to thank the man who assisted him.
