87,570 South Africans petition for pit bull ban after most recent fatalities

Storm Nuku, 10, left, and Olebogeng Mosime, 8, right.  (Beth Clifton collage)

Firefighter leads response to deaths of eight-year-old and 10-year-old

BLOEMFONTEIN,  South Africa––The two most recent South African pit bull fatalities differed little from dozens of others,  both in South Africa and around the world,  in the United States,  the United Kingdom,  Europe,  India,  and South America.

This time,  though,  the South African response,  though,  has been starkly different.

South Africans,  for the moment anyhow,  are no longer listening to excuses for pit bull mayhem,  and are doing what they can about it.

Within days of the November 12,  2022 pit bull mauling death of eight-year-old Bloemfontein resident Olebogeng Mosime,  other Bloemfonteiners had voluntarily surrendered 49 pit bulls to the local chapter of the South African National SPCA.

Sizwe Kupelo.

Petition posted by Sizwe Kupelo Foundation

The Sizwe Kupelo Foundation,  begun by firefighter Sizwe Kupelo of Umtata,  a city in the Eastern Cape region,  responded earlier to the September 26,  2022 pit bull mauling death of 10-year-old Storm Nuku by posting a petition addressed to Agriculture,  Land Reform,  & Rural Development minister Thoko Didiza,  demanding a national pit bull ban.

More than 87,570 South Africans have signed the petition,  about 54,000 before Olebogeng Mosime was killed and 33,000-plus in the first week since.

“Olebogeng Mosime was playing at his Vista Park home,”  reported Kgomotso Phooko of The Citizen,  “when the neighbors’ pit bull jumped over the fence into his yard and attacked him.

“The boy was found by emergency personnel lying next to the garage door,  already dead.  The pit bull who was still in the yard was shot dead by the police.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Just playing”

Storm Nuku,  a resident of the Gelvandale suburb of Gqerberha,  South Africa,  the city formerly called Port Elizabeth,  was killed by two family pit bulls while playing with two other children inside his home.

Police shot both pit bulls involved in that attack,  but too late to save Storm Nuku.

Wrote Kupelo,  prefacing his petition,  “We cannot continue losing young people like Storm Nuku to these vicious dogs who have shown time and again that they should not be kept as pets.

“The defense by pit bull lovers that it is how you raise the dog does not hold water. So many people, including joggers,  have been attacked and killed by pit bulls.

“It is time that the South African government take decisive steps and impose a complete ban on the ownership of pit bulls as domestic animals.  Such a move would prevent further attacks and unnecessary deaths,”  Kupelo finished.

Braveheart, a pit bull impounded by the National SPCA of South Africa.

Pit Bull Federation of South Africa pledges to fight ban

The Pit Bull Federation of South Africa,  which has often warned since 2015 that people should not buy or adopt pit bulls as family pets,  shifted gears on November 18,  2022,  pledging to lead efforts to fight against the passage of a national pit bull ban,  should the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation petition actually evolve into a legislative proposal.

The National SPCA of South Africa meanwhile is not happy with the influx of pit bulls,  nor with continuing pit bull breeding and acquisition..

“The SPCA is not government-funded,”  public relations officer Keshvi Nair told Kgomotso Phooko of The Citizen.  “We are not going to receive a lot of funding next year either.  So this is all done on limited resources.  We are now once again left with having to clean up the mess of other people who made reckless and irresponsible decisions that affect animals and people.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

“What stops the owner?”

“Often people think that when an attack has occurred and the dog is being euthanized, means the problem is solved,”  Nair continued.  “Absolutely not. You may have gotten rid of the dangerous animal,  but what stops the owner from tomorrow going and acquiring another animal who may turn dangerous?”

The ANIMALS 24-7 log of fatal dog attacks in South Africa shows that of the 85 dogs involved in the most recent 45 fatalities,  66 (78%) were pit bulls,  ten (12%) were unidentified,  four (5%) were Boerboels,  another four (5%) were German shepherds,  and one was reportedly a Labrador retriever.

Beth, Merritt, & Teddy Clifton.

            (See https://www.animals24-7.org/wp-content/uploads/South-African-dog-attacks.pdf.)

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