A Pietermaritzburg man appeared in the city’s magistrate’s court on Tuesday charged with keeping ferocious dogs after five of his pit bulls mauled his domestic worker.
Niven Harilal, 28, of Gogas Road in Raisethorpe, made a brief appearance on Tuesday when the case was adjourned to December 11.
Harilal’s domestic worker was allegedly performing her daily chores when she was attacked by the five pit bulls on October 15.
When Harilal’s wife ran out of the house to control the dogs, she herself was bitten on her leg.
Garden service workers who were passing by heard the screams of the two women and ran into the yard to help.
One of the garden service workers suffered dog bites to his arm. The domestic worker suffered severe injuries to her face, head and upper body.
Harilal owns the two 18-month-old parent pit bulls and three 7-month-old puppies from their litter. It was not established on Tuesday whether he still had the dogs or whether he had given them to the SPCA.
The domestic worker had been employed for several years and had regularly fed the dogs. It is unclear what caused them to attack her.
Jeanette Erasmus, the chief executive of the Pit Bull Federation of South Africa, said it was not in the nature of a pit bull to attack humans. However, it was not advisable to keep five pit bulls in a residential area. “Pit bulls work in packs… Pit bulls should be kennelled and proper training guidelines should be adhered to,” she said.