EFF calls for the ban of domestic ownership of pit bulls
21 November 2022
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) calls for the ban of domestic pet-ownership of all breeds of pit bulls in South Africa. This comes after the numerous pit bull attacks on children, which most recently has seen the painful death of a 3-year-old in in Hennenman, Free State.
The death of this 3-year-old follows the mauling of an 8-year-old boy in Vista Park, Free State and that of a 10-year old boy in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape. It is telling that these pit bulls have a propensity to attack children and in the case of Gqeberha even attack a familiar person who was part of the family that owned the dogs.
It has become patently clear that pit bulls are not suitable for domestic breeding, especially in conditions that may not be favourable to their existence, such as limited living space. They are an aggressive breed who attack humans viciously, and this is exhibited by their tendency to attack the human neck, rendering their attacks fatal.
Many nations have either banned or placed stringent conditions on the ownership of pit bulls, due to recognising that the breed cannot co-exist with human beings, and this has become clearer in the recent spate of attacks in the country. The ownership of pit bulls is often used as a deterrent to crime and home invasions, meaning they are deliberately bred to attack humans, and the attack on children exposes how illogical it is to think that dogs can differentiate between which humans are a threat or not.
Outside of negative-breeding habits, the dogs remain an aggressive breed and their ownership must be prohibited lest many communities lose loved ones to brutal attacks.
In the immediate, the EFF encourages all pit bull owners to voluntarily handover the dogs to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), to avoid further attacks and retaliation by communities to pit bull attacks.
The EFF will explore through means of legislation, avenues to ensure that domestic pit bull ownership is prohibited in the country. There are many breeds of dogs which exist which can be kept and not pose a risk to other human beings, pit bulls have proven to not be such a breed not only in South Africa but in various nations across the world.
Issued by Sinawo Thambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 28 November 2022
