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Crime Reporter
Recent attacks and killings by dogs trained to be vicious has intensified debate on whether people should keep them for personal security, what breeds might be banned, and how good owners should secure their animals.
Many have generally expressed concern over people that are keeping vicious dogs, although some say they are useful especially at a time when crimes related to unlawful entry into private premises are on the increase.
There is also an emerging crop of entrepreneurs who are breeding such dogs considered to be highly aggressive and ideal for vicious guard dogs, realising handsome profits.
A puppy for the most sought after breeds can cost between US$300 and US$500. But when grown some of the dogs have attacked people, sometimes unprovoked, leading to deaths and serious injuries.
Pit Bull terriers, rottweilers and boerboels are the main breeds sought as ultimate aggressive guard dogs, but often not properly secured.
The public generally feels there is need for the Government to come up with stringent measures to control such animals or even banning the keeping of such dogs in residential areas.
There have been several deaths after attacks by dogs putting a spotlight on a craze by some of these dog owners to buy mostly dangerous and aggressive dog breeds with little regard to their characteristics and then see them trained up to be attack dogs.
Pit bulls have a controversial reputation due to their history in dog fighting, the number of high-profile attacks documented in the media over decades, and their proclivity to latch on while biting. The boerboel is a South African breed of large dog of mastiff type, used as a family guard dog. It is large, with a short coat, strong bone structure and well-developed muscles.
The name boerboel derives from the Afrikaans words boer which means farmer, and boel, a shortening of boelhond, which means ‘bulldog’.
The boerboel descends from an old colonial cross-breed of mastiffs and bulldogs used both as a guard dog on remote farms and estates and for big game hunting, and known as the boer dog or boer hunting dog. An account from 1909 describes this cross-breed as the best dog for hunting leopards and baboons in packs; a leopard with a leg caught in a trap can be killed by a pack of them.
During the past few months, children and adults have been attacked and killed countrywide by such dogs resulting with the public fearing for their security.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were worried over an increase in dog attacks and urged dog owners to put in place adequate security measures at their homes to ensure that people will not be attacked.
“We have been saying time and again that people keeping vicious dogs at their homes should make sure that these dogs are kept under leash, secure and they should be regularly vaccinated. Such dogs should not interfere with the safety of the public and dog owners should put in place adequate safety measures,” he said.
It was a criminal offence if they failed to do so.
“One of the charges include letting a vicious dog at large, that is if it bites and injures a person while the other charge is culpable homicide, if the dog or dogs kills anyone.
“The law is very clear for a dog owner on how they should keep their dog,” Asst Comm Nyathi said.
On stray dogs, he said, in some instances, such dogs were taken away by the SPCA.
Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Innocent Ruwende said according to the Harare Dog Licensing and Control By-laws (2015) only a maximum of two dogs were allowed per household.
“The law makes it an offence to keep more than four dogs, or allow more than four dogs, over the age of six months to be kept in or at premises containing one or two dwelling units.
“No person may keep more than six dogs, or allow more than six dogs, over the age of six months to be kept on an agricultural property or four dogs, or allow more than four dogs, over the age of six months to be kept on or at any other premises.
“Subject to Section 4, no person shall keep any dog on a premises for any portion of a year commencing on the 1st day of January unless he or she has applied for and obtained a permit. Early this month, a nine-year-old girl died on admission at Parirenyatwa Hospital after she was attacked by a pit bull dog in the Whitecliffe area in Harare and police have since launched investigations into the case.
A 68-year-old security guard was also found dead with multiple injuries after he was mauled by four pit bulls at a business premises in along Sherwood Crescent, Waterfalls.
The victim is suspected to have been mauled to death by four pit bull dogs.
In April last year, a 70-year-old Harare man was mauled to death by three vicious boerboel dogs at a company premises in the Adbennie area of Harare under unclear circumstances.
Maxwell Chikuni, was employed as a security guard at the company and it is suspected that the dogs belong to the owner of the company.
He was found with serious injuries before he was taken to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital where he later died after admission.
Last year, a Bulawayo man was mauled to death by his own two boerboels after they reportedly mistook him for an intruder.
His neighbours watched helplessly as the vicious dogs savaged him when he returned unexpectedly from work at midday to collect a toolbox he had forgotten.
Two months before the Bulawayo incident, a 7-year-old ECD learner from Madzimoyo Farm in Hurungwe District in Karoi, Mashonaland West, died after he was mauled by a suspected rabid family dog, leaving his face unrecognisable.
Three years ago, a Bulawayo woman, Ms Cherish Muchegwa of West Somerton suburb, made headlines after her landlady’s five dogs mauled her.
Ms Muchegwa had just entered the gate to her lodgings when the dogs ran to her before attacking her, tearing off flesh from her arms and legs.
“Through the assistance of Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi, Ms Muchengwa was flown to India for a surgical operation where she spent three months at Kiran Hospital.
Online Reporter