CAPE TOWN: A three-year-old girl succumbed to bite wounds to her neck and face, after she was mauled by a pit bull on Sunday afternoon in the Eastern Cape.
It is alleged that at about 4.20pm on Sunday, three-year-old Simamkele Kovu was playing near her house in Msengana Street, Zwide, along with her friends, when a pit bull escaped from a yard with a broken gate and mauled Kovu to death.
“She sustained several bite wounds to her neck and face, and succumbed to her injuries at the scene,” Eastern Cape police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said.
A resident is believed to have attempted to save Kovu’s life and stabbed the dog multiple times at the time of the attack.
Naidu said the pit bull allegedly belonged to a teenager who resides in Msengana Street, but was out of town when the attack occurred.
An inquest docket is currently under investigation by SAPS Kwazakele.
Authorities are urging residents to secure their property, and that pets be kept within the secured boundaries of owners’ property.
Last month in Durbanville, Cape Town, a 66-year-old man died after two pit bulls, who also escaped from a yard, attacked the man.
Earlier this year, following a spate of pit bull attacks in the Western Cape, SPCA spokesperson Belinda Abrahams revealed, at the time, that puppies of certain breeds need to be exposed to over 100 people within three to 12 weeks of age.
“Aggression starts in puppyhood, with the failure to develop tolerance towards children, adults, elderly people, both sexes, various races, able-bodied or disabled, calm or raucous, etc. If pups do not obtain good imprinting during their impressionable period, from three to 20 weeks of age, then all may be lost,” Abrahams said.
Pit bulls particularly – which is a term for a mixed breed dog with certain qualities –has a propensity for animal aggression.
“For this reason, owners must take responsibility for their animal to live safely in society. Triggers for this aggression may not be clear and may manifest unexpectedly, regardless of how docile and loving they are towards you,” Abrahams adds.
IOL