In a new craze sweeping Ocean View, tik-fuelled youngsters go "hunting" with their pitbulls, searching for vulnerable targets - canine or human.
A number of residents have been badly bitten in recent weeks, while there have been numerous cases of pitbulls entering homes and seeking out people's pets.
One small dog was dragged from under a bed, another was pulled underneath a gate and had its throat ripped out.
"It's a new sport in Ocean View," said Sylvia Shortreed, a vet at the welfare group Tears, who has also treated dogs that have been sodomised by the drug-crazed youngsters.
'But these guys use their dogs to break into houses or to rob people' There have also been chilling reports of dogs having glue packets forced over their snouts, and of small children throwing puppies to pitbulls which catch them like balls.
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Tik is a massive problem in Ocean View. Earlier this year more than 200 Rastafarians and community members marched on the homes of tik dealers demanding they stop dealing, but ironically some of those allegedly involved in pitbull fighting are Rastas themselves.
Tears staff member Ingrid de Storie, who lives in Ocean View, said even small children were getting involved in dog-fighting, copying adults.
"They use the puppies and try to get them to fight. They bet around R10."
Tears, whose core job is to rescue and re-home abandoned animals, now spends a vast amount of its time and resources trying to save the lives of pets that have been torn to shreds by pitbulls.
Most have their throats ripped out or, if they are trying to flee, are disembowelled.
Marilyn Hoole, co-founder of the organisation, said pitbull fighting was out of control in the area.
"It's not the organised fights so much but this new form of 'entertainment' where youngsters wander around with their dogs letting them attack any dog they come across."
It was a matter of time before a toddler was killed.
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