A 3-year-old boy was killed by a pit bull.
PHOTO: Tara Gregg/Getty Images, EyeEm
- Animal welfare officers have been attacked by angry community members in the Free State.
- They were trying to take down two pit bulls that mauled a 3-year-old child.
- A child died when two dogs attacked him at a home in Henneman.
SPCA staff who tried to intervene after two pit bulls mauled a child to death 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 08:15 when he was attacked by two dogs, said police spokesperson Captain Stephen Takeng.
“Those dogs bit him until he died in the yard,” said Takeng.
“The enraged residents wanted to kill both dogs and attack the owner of these two pit bulls. Officers from the Welkom Public Order Unit were called to the scene and took the owner to safety.”
The mob turned on SPCA officers who responded to the incident, said Ernest Hachau of the Virginia SPCA.
“We had to leave the place because we were attacked. We left one dog there. The second dog managed to escape, and we took this dog out, which was euthanized,” said Hakhov.
Thakeng said: “We can confirm that SPCA staff were attacked by angry residents but no one was injured. Officers from Welkom Public Order Policing and Hennenman SAPS managed to rescue them.”
He added that locals attacked the abandoned dog, beating it with garden shovels and stones before setting the animal on fire.
The latest attack comes days after the burial of an 8-year-old boy in Mangaung who was mauled to death by a neighborhood pit bull on Saturday last week.
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The dog mauled him at his parents’ house in Bloemfontein when he managed to break through the fence.
The dog dragged him by the throat, killing him.
Police have opened a case for investigation following the latest attack, Takeng added.
A report has been registered for further investigation.
Police remain in the area, he added.
