File picture
THE SPCA has confiscated the three pit bulls that are believed to have mauled a woman to death in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape on Sunday.
The police said that 37-year-old Zimkhitha Gaga was walking on Alfred Road at around 7.45am on Sunday when she was attacked by dogs.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the SPCA had taken away three pit bulls that were allegedly responsible for the gruesome attack.
“The owner of the dogs lives in the vicinity. It is alleged that the dogs managed to escape from the secured property by damaging the perimeter fencing,” said Naidu.
An inquest docket has been opened.
Naidu said that on Sunday, two men who witnessed the attack ran to a nearby security official and reported the incident.
“The security official contacted the police. When the police arrived, the badly injured woman was lying on the side of the road.
“The woman sustained serious injuries to her face and upper body. The dogs were nowhere to be found.
“She died prior to receiving medical attention.”
At the time, the breed of the dog was unknown, so police appealed for witnesses to come forward.
Last week, a one-year-old child was mauled to death by a pit bull in the Eastern Cape.
The latest incident brings the number of pit bull attacks to six for November.
A petition calling for the ban on pit bulls has reached 130,000.
Sizwe Kupelo, the founder of the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation, said it was a sad day for the country to have to stand by and watch as more lives were being lost due to a dog breed that had been shown, on numerous occasions, to have no regard for human life.