Recently, the Animal Welfare Society of SA (AWS SA) dealt with a severely injured seven-month-old Pitbull Cross named Layla, who had been savagely mauled by a neighbour’s adult dog.
This article contains graphic details that may disturb sensitive readers:
Her shocked and traumatised owner Delia Adonis from Manenberg explained how the neighbour’s dog grabbed Layla by the bottom jaw and yanked her through a small gap between the gate and gate post leaving Layla with a shattered lower jaw, missing canines and multiple serious lacerations to the inside of her mouth and muzzle.
The degree of disfigurement suffered by Layla can only be described as shocking and is illustrative of the savage ferocity of the alleged unprovoked attack.
“The attack is being investigated by our Inspectorate and Law Enforcement whilst Ms Adonis attempts to claim financial compensation for damages from the aggressor’s owner. We do not rate her chances of success as good and have in the meantime attended to Layla’s bite wounds… and also taken the opportunity to sterilise and vaccinate her whilst she is in our care,” says the AWS SA.
“Our involvement, in this case, is focused on what is in the best interest of the dogs but if we were to speculate on the most likely outcome of the investigation, it is very possible that Law Enforcement will serve the aggressor’s owner with a so-called Destruction Order for his dog to be humanely euthanized,” further added AWS SA.
AWS SA spokesperson Allan Perrins, who has been in the animal welfare profession for over 20 years, is of the opinion that it is a miracle that Layla survived the attack and that their remarkable veterinary team was able to piece together her shattered mouth so successfully that she was eating again yesterday.
Dangerous dogs, especially those condemned to death due to behavioural issues such as aggression, are almost always a reflection of how they were raised and treated so perhaps if a Destruction Order is served on the dog, this should be accompanied by a notice that bans the owner from owning another dog.
“We would advocate that instead of the breed almost always being condemned and harshly labelled, society should rather ‘grasp the nettle’ and deal with the cause, not the symptoms of problem owners who should be denied the privilege of pet ownership,” AWS SA concludes.
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Pictures: Supplied