We know how to handle terriers - breeders

A breeder from Meadowlands in Soweto is not moved by the petition to have pit bulls, which are his source of income, banned.  

He owns seven pit bulls, which are kept in an enclosed area in his backyard.

“I love them because they are beautiful and they listen. Since I have had these dogs in 2014, they have not attacked anyone. Children come here to buy ice every day,” said Thabang, who declined to give his surname.

During the day, Thabang keeps his dogs in a locked area behind the house but releases them at night for security reasons. He also takes them for walks on Sundays.

After losing his job during the hard lockdown, Thabang has survived on breeding pit bulls, charging R2,000 for an ordinary dog and up to R10,000 for those with unique colours.

“Government should not impose a ban … We cannot all suffer for someone’s mistake. My dogs have not done anything wrong, you cannot just come and take them,” Thabang said.

An owner of a pit bull in Pretoria, Bronwin Hubner, said her dog had always been around children.

“Before we adopted the pit bull, we first went to a shelter which kept the pets for three to four years. That is where we gained a lot of experience about pit bulls.

“We also did our homework and were confident that we can handle a pit bull, so we adopted the dog. Since we had the dog, we take him for training every weekend. He has also been socialised with other dogs and children,” Hubner said.

“As owners we need to be responsible. You cannot expect the dog to be responsible when you have not put in the training it needs. We take him for exercise and also for stimulation and socialising. You never put animals together and expect them to get along. It has to be done in a proper way. Pit bulls were bred to be animal aggressive not human aggressive,” Hubner said.

Hubner said illegal breeders were a problem. “If you breed the brother and the sister in the backyard just to make money, you are not going to get a good dog. It is just like in humans, you cannot marry your sister. There is a lot of outcomes which includes health issues.”

Irene Britz of Pretoria, an owner of two pit bulls, said she approached the Pit Bull Federation of SA before owning one as she had heard bad stories about the breed.

Britz said the federation shared insight on how she had to take care of the pit bull. She also conducted desktop research about pit bulls and liked them.

“I also taught my kids to respect the dog and not to tease it. My kids love the pit bull. As a responsible owner, I don’t leave my children unsupervised when they have other children visiting. I don’t know how the other children are with animals,” she said.

“A pit bull is not a dog that you can just buy and keep in the backyard. They have so much energy. They need to get rid of the energy. They need to exercise.”

dlaminip@sowetan.co.za