A Delft woman has had to put her pit bull down following an attack on her daughter.
Gatvol of the vicious dog, Riyanah Martin, 53, called the SPCA and Bruno was taken away this week.
The mother says she was also a victim when her dog bit her arm.
“On the day there was a shooting and he went crazy and came to bite me and my husband shouted and then he stopped,” she says.
“He only listened to him and no one else in the house, and I got fed-up and called the SPCA and paid R450, which is a lot of money, but I did it for my family.”
She explains that the dog was for protection.
“When he was around, no one could come into the yard, he looked after us. We have another pitbull and if she bites us too, she will go to the SPCA too.”
But her teenage daughter Aseeqah, 17, is not happy with the idea of putting Bruno to sleep.
The only reminder of her beloved pet are the scars on her right forearm, made on Christmas Day when Bruno attacked her.
“I was sitting in the front yard when I heard kids throw a beer bottle against our wall,” says Aseeqah.
“The dog got a fright and I quickly grabbed my son and put him behind me because I thought Bruno would go for him and he bit me instead.
“He pulled away and then my mommy called the SPCA to have him taken away.”
She says Bruno has been having episodes of aggression since November: “The klappertjies are the reason he becomes like that, he is a good dog.
“He just gets scared sometimes.”