A pitbull killed a 3-year-old boy.
PHOTO: Tara Gregg/Getty Images, EyeEm
- Animal welfare staff were attacked by angry community members in the Free State.
- They were trying to remove two pit bulls that maimed a 3-year-old boy.
- The boy died when the two dogs attacked him at a home in Henneman.
SPCA staff, who tried to intervene after a child was killed by two pit bulls in the Free State, were attacked by angry members of the community on Sunday morning.
The 3-year-old boy was playing with other children at a house in Sekoti Mpate Phomolong in Hennenman at around 8:15 a.m. when he was attacked by two dogs, police spokesman Capt. Stephen Thakeng said.
“These dogs bit him until he died in the yard,” Thakeng said.
“The angry residents wanted to kill both dogs and attack the owner of these two pit bulls. Members of the Welkom Public Order Police were summoned to the scene and took the owner to safety.”
The mob turned on SPCA personnel who responded to the incident, said Ernest Khakhau of the Virginia SPCA.
“We had to evacuate the place because we were attacked. We left a dog there. The other dog had managed to escape, and we removed that dog, which was euthanized,” Khakhau said.
Thakeng stated, “We can confirm that the SPCA staff were attacked by angry residents, but no one was injured. Members of Welkom Public Order Policing and Hennenman SAPS managed to rescue them.”
He added that locals attacked the dog that was left behind, hitting it with garden shovels and stones before setting the animal on fire.
The latest attack comes days after the funeral of an 8-year-old boy in Mangaung, who was mauled to death by a neighbor’s pit bull last week on Saturday.
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The dog mauled him at his parents’ home in Bloemfontein, when it managed to break through a stockade fence.
The dog dragged him by the neck, killing him.
Police have opened an inquiry case for investigation after the latest attack, Thakeng added.
An investigation file has been filed for further investigation.
Police remain in the area, he added.
