Cape Town – A Cape Town woman who was attacked by a group of pit bulls in Cape Town recently has reportedly opened up about the incident, saying she thought her life was ending, as the dogs mauled her, clenching their jaws into her body.
“I cried so much, thinking my life was ending,” Phunyezwa Bongoza, 43, said as she recalled the attack she had survived, according to IOL.
Bongoza was collecting dustbins when the dogs mauled her.
“I was on duty yesterday and after collecting the bins and emptied them into the truck, I turned around and saw two pit bulls running towards me, the owner who is female, tried to call them but they didn’t listen and continued to charge towards me.
“People tried to throw stones at the dogs and hit them but they gripped me with their teeth so hard for about 15 minutes,” she was reported as saying.
Bongoza also revealed that she would have been bitten in the neck by one of the pit bulls if it were not for the heroics of one of her colleagues who reportedly hit the dog before it could sink its teeth into her neck.
She managed to receive help from a neighbour and was transported to hospital by the dogs’ owner.
The incident occurred after a 37-year-old Port Alfred woman was mauled to death by dogs while on her way to work.
According to police reports, the woman was allegedly walking in Alfred road at about 07:45 when she was attacked.
SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu said that two on-lookers witnessed the incident and reported it.
“Two males who witnessed the attack, ran to a nearby security official and reported the incident. The security official contacted the police however when police arrived, the badly injured woman was lying on the side of the road,” Naidu said in the statement.
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According to Infurmation, a law firm, DSC Attorneys said that South Africa has the highest incidence of dog attacks on humans than any other country in the world.
A partner in the firm, Kirstie Haslam, reportedly said that dog bites account for tens of millions of injuries annually.
“There were nine dog attack fatalities in 2016, more than the total number in the nine years from 2006-2015, and so far in 2017, reported dog attack fatalities and injuries are a daily occurrence. With high crime rate, large breeds of dogs are popular and many dogs are trained to be aggressive for security purposes.
“The number of dog bite is growing alarmingly every year and compounding the problem is the increasing prevalence of the breeding of large dogs to participate in dog fights as a blood sport,” Haslam was quoted as saying.
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Picture: Facebook/ Pit Bull Federation of South Africa – PBFSA
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
