Should pit bulls be banned?

CATALYST: Cross-breeding present problems.

CATALYST: Cross-breeding present problems.

Published Oct 13, 2017

Share

Cape Town - When four-month-old Fantasia Heneker from Ravensmead was recently killed by a pit bull, the debate around the breed surfaced yet again.

In July, two-year-old Sufyaan Loggenberg of Hanover Park was nearly mauled to death by a pit bull.

The hond tore off parts of the little boy’s brow and forehead.

In March, Abdush-Shakoor Noordien, 10, went into a coma after a pit bull nearly ripped out his throat while walking in Philippi.

Residents say the dog had gone “berserk” and attacked two other people just before Abdush-Shakoor.

ALSO READ: Delivery man mauled to death

Blame

The recent spike in attacks is alarming. Innocent people are injured and dying, but who is to blame: the dog or the owner?

The Daily Voice ran a poll on their Facebook page, asking their readers if the pit bull should be banned in South Africa.

The debate raged for days, racking up over 1000 comments.

The comments ranged from pit bull enthusiasts to people living in close proximity to the dogs, fearing for their lives.

OUTRAGE: Attacked at work

Here are some of your thoughts:

Megan Kirsten Reed said: “People wanna ban Pit bulls because of their “bad” behaviour but what about these pigs that walk the street taking lives and getting away with it. Don’t label a dog, a few bad ones that have been brought up incorrectly and for the wrong reasons. Proud owner of 2 Pitbulls.” (sic)

Yazeed Meniers wrote: “They should introduce some kind of licence to own those dogs whereby people that are unfit to train and raise those dogs properly do not get access to those licence. Or else face a hefty hefty fine.”

Raised

Lee-ann Valentine felt a ban would be in order. “Yes: Not because of the dog itself because dogs behave according to how they get raised.... so my yes is because of ignorant ppl raising these dogs for dog fights and starving them on chains. Also breeding with them and having no knowledge on how to treat them. There are just too many pit bull related deaths because of a owner’s ignorance.” (sic)

Shirley Hendricks Theunissen reckoned: “The pit bulls should be taken off from the youngsters, bcos it’s them who misuse the dogs for the wrong reasons.” (sic)

Pit bull Knights Kennels, a registered pit bull breeding organisation, also blames irresponsible owners for dogs’ bad behaviour.

“It is not the breed that should be held responsible, it is the irresponsible breeders, backyard breeders and puppy mills that should be held responsible,” it wrote.

“Pitbulls are not human aggressive, the breed standard does not promote human aggression, although some bloodlines tend to give human aggressive pups. But it is not the norm.

“They have great temperaments with humans if bred properly and are one of the most versatile working dogs today in the correct handler’s hands.”

VIEWS: 'Owners are behind the dog's aggression'

Aggressive

“The problem is the people cross-breeding to human aggressive dogs like the Boerboel and Rottweiler. These dogs are inherent dog aggressive and have a very high prey drive. They are not supposed to be roaming the streets.

“People owning these dogs to build up their egos are the worst.”

This story first appeared in the Daily Voice

Related Topics: