Pretoria - The victim of the Polokwane pit bull attack, which sparked racial tensions in the Limpopo capital, is out of hospital and recovering at home.
However, her family said the girl, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, said most of the pain was in her left hand, which she was unable to use.
The pit bull bit the girl on her left breast while she and a friend were walking home from school. Witnesses said the dog escaped through a small gate.
Speaking to Pretoria News, witness Susan Tshifalo said the incident caused a racial stir after residents wanted the owner of the dog, who is white, to account for the attack.
The owner was arrested but was released.
It is believed that the dog was shot dead by police, but police spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo could not confirm this. Tshifalo said the girl was walking with her friend when the dog escaped through the gate and attacked her, biting her on her left breast.
Another passer-by intervened and got her to safety.
The victim was treated on the scene by emergency services and taken to hospital.
However, a crowd gathered at the scene and a racial spat ensued between the white neighbours and some black residents.
“The community accused the owner of being racist and said he had let the dog out on purpose because that was what he did on a daily basis.
“They were demanding that he be arrested because he always let the dog out when black people passed by,” Tshifalo said.
She said the crowd asked for him to be arrested for attempted murder. According to the SPCA, the owner of the dog gave permission for the police to have the animal put down.
“The police informed us of the incident shortly after 6pm, and our field officer Malose Lebelo went to the house and loaded the dog into his bakkie.
“The crowd then threatened to set the bakkie alight.
“They demanded that the dog be shot on the scene.”
Tshifalo said the spat intensified when the crowd wanted to enter the owner’s premises, baying for his blood, but were urged not to by a neighbour.
Mojapelo did confirm that the 29-year-old owner of the dog was arrested but later released.
“The situation was getting tense, with the crowd even threatening to burn the van that was carrying the pit bull.
“The white people were also threatening to take out their guns and shoot the crowd for public disturbance.
“However, the police managed to keep the situation calm, and the crowd dispersed after the owner was arrested,” he said.
There have been pit bull attacks across the country in recent weeks, which has fuelled calls for the breed to be banned.
Last month, three dogs, including a pit bull, were removed from a house in Kuils River after a 26-year-old woman was severely mauled.
The woman was passing by a residence in Penhill Estate when she was attacked.
Also last month, in Trenance Park in the Amaotana area near Verulam, a man was attacked by two of his neighbour’s pit bulls while heading home from a friend’s house.
Pretoria News