Central SA
'Residents were warned about stray dogs prior to pit bull attack'─── LUCKY NKUYANE 12:17 Sun, 20 Nov 2022
A ward 19 councillor in the Bloemfontein-based Mangaung Metro Municipality has revealed that residents had been warned to keep their dogs on a tight leash prior to the pit bull attack in Vista Park, which led to the death of an 8-year-old boy.
ANC councillor, Peter Qondile, says just weeks before Olebegong Mosime’s neighbours' Pit Bull attacked him, they had circulated a message on their community WhatsApp group, warning those with dogs to keep them at bay for everyone's safety.
He says they had noticed a lot of stray dogs on the streets of Mangaung, which posed a serious threat to children and joggers, among others.
ALSO READ: Pit bull attacks, kills child
“Not so long ago we wrote on the community groups pleading with men and women, in particular the dog owners, to make sure that the dogs were kept on the leashes. Being vicious dogs or not, we pleaded that they keep them at bay because they have now become stray animals all over the streets.
"We noticed that kids were no longer able to loiter on the streets, and men and women who usually jog, are no longer able to do so. But our call fell on deaf ears.
"I say this today because we are now gathered here because of the same reason that led to this. If we had heeded the call and the warning we would have not been here today,” Qondile says.
ALSO READ: Dog-mauling victim laid to rest
Qondile also slammed those who took pictures of Mosime after he was attacked by the Pit Bull and sharing it on social media, displaying insensitivity.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Mayor, Mapaseka Nkoane-Mothibi, who was also among the speakers at the funeral of the school pupil, said as of January 2023, the city would require dog owners to have a licence and also to have some form of training to be the owners of any type of dog.
“As of January, nobody will own a dog without a licence. And where is the empathy? [Our consciience has died so much} that we see a dog’s life as more important than that of Olebogeng. I hope none of those people who have displayed absolute disregard for the boy’s life ever experience the pain that Olebogeng’s parent is experiencing.
"I am also praying to God that your kids must never die in the manner in which Olebogeng did. I am in serious pain because [if] the owner had been responsible, none of this would have happened,” Nkoane-Mothibi adds.
She has since thanked the police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for their swift response after the Pit Bull’s attack.
