A 47-year-old man died after four pit bulls attacked him in Lutzville on Sunday morning.
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Johannes Lewis, also known as ‘Bam’, always woke up early and walked around the house, says Gert Flink, Lewis’ brother-in-law.
‘On Sunday, he woke up early and walked around the outside of the house, as is his habit. Before they bit another two men, the one guy ran through the neighbour’s backyard and into our property,’ Flink told IOL.
‘What we think happened is that the man tried to escape the dogs, (but) when he came around the back of the yard, they caught up and they attacked Bam in front of the door before he could get inside the house.’
‘They were so brutal that nobody could really do anything. My sister-in-law woke up; she saw the dogs were biting him, but she could not do anything; otherwise, they would attack her too. The neighbour’s son threw the dogs with stones, then the sister-in-law could get Bam into the house.
‘They bit him – arms, his leg, his neck. He lost a lot of blood. He was so anxious; he wanted to touch the wounds; I had to stop him and try to calm him down.’
Although the family called an ambulance, Lewis succumbed to his injuries. ‘It didn’t have to get to this; the dogs were supposed to have been removed a long time ago. I guess this had to happen for any action to be taken. My neighbour came over, but her son has not set foot here. We want justice for what happened to Johannes.’
As per IOL, Lewis didn’t have any children and was disabled.
According to Matzikamma Municipality director of community services Ruben Saul, the four pit bulls attacked three people that morning. Two of the victims escaped. ‘Sadly, Mr Bam…was not so lucky and died at the scene.’
According to Saul, a veterinarian in Vredendal put the dogs to death after being taken away by law enforcement.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk says a culpable homicide docket has been opened. ‘The dogs also attacked a 38-year-old male at about 5am the same morning. He was transported to Vredendal Hospital for treatment. Both the case dockets were forwarded to the senior public prosecutor on 21 November for a decision.
‘A ‘negligently allowing or failing to prevent an animal to cause injury to another person’ docket was registered for the 38-year-old victim.’
Lehanda Rheede, spokesperson for the Pit Bull Federation South Africa, questions the reason for the attack. ‘The aggression of any dog towards humans is never a positive sign. We advocate for the American pit bull terrier breed; it was never bred for human aggression. We would ask the question of what led up to the attack. Was it… the way (the dogs) were brought up?
‘Something should have been done by the owner to take the dog out of the community and out of harm’s way. It all comes down to responsible ownership.’
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Picture: Tobias Knünz / Pexels