Family recalls how neighbour’s pitbull viciously attacked boy (8)

"They tried using anything they could find including shovels to remove it, but this dog would not let go. It was a mess."

This is how Olebogeng Omolemo Mosime's aunt Galaletsang Mogoere described to Sowetan on Sunday what happened to her nephew who died when he was viciously attacked by a neighbour’s pitbull dog on Saturday afternoon. 

The death of Olebogeng Omolemo Mosine from Vista Park in Mangaung in the Free State has once again focused attention on SA’s pitbull debate, with some calling for the breed to be banned.  

This follows other incidents, including one in which a 10-year-old boy was killed  by the family’s two dogs in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, a month ago.

Yesterday,  Mogoere, 28, said the family’s weekend took a tragic turn after their eight-year-old boy was killed by the dog.

The family had returned home around 2pm from a shopping trip in preparation for a relative’s wedding.

Mogoere said when they arrived home, the neighbour’s child, standing outside the gate, called on them to open the gate so he could retrieve his dog. She said no one had noticed that the dog had slipped into the family’s yard and they were not aware that it had entered the garage where Olebogeng was playing.

She said they suddenly realised that the child was being attacked, the dog dragging him by his neck from the garage to the gate.

“It had him by the neck and as soon as it let go of the child, he was gone. People came from outside the yard trying to remove the dog from him. They tried using anything they could find including shovels to remove it, but this dog would not let go. It was a mess,” Mogoere said.

She said her family was devastated by the loss, adding that they had complained to the neighbour on numerous occasions about her dogs entering their property.

 “At the moment I don’t even want to hear a dog barking. I just want to tell owners of pitbulls that they need to be aware of the kind of dogs they have. Pitbulls are not the kind of dogs you should keep at home,” Mogoere said.

She said Olebogeng, a grade 3 learner at Roseview Primary School, was a kindhearted boy who loved playing soccer at school.

Provincial police spokesperson Lt-Col Thabo Covane said an inquest docket was opened at the Mangaung police station. “It is alleged that the dog escaped its enclosure and jumped over the fence into the neighbour’s premises at about 2pm. It then attacked the child who was playing alone; biting him severely on the neck and chest,” Covane said.

He said police and paramedics were called to the scene while the dog was put to death.

Sizwe Kupelo, an activist whose organisation is behind a campaign calling for a ban on the breed, said the latest incident was a reminder that pitbulls should not be kept in domestic settings.

Kupelo’s petition, which has been signed by 45,000 people, will be submitted to authorities when it reaches the 50,000 mark.

“Such unnecessary deaths can be prevented by banning the breed, which does not deserve to be classified as a domestic pet – based on statistics of how it attacks and kills people without provocation,” Kupelo said.  

mahopoz@sowetan.co.za