Police are investigating a case of culpable homicide after pit bulls attacked a 47-year-old man in Lutzville.
Johannes Lewis, affectionately known as “Bam”, had a mental disability. His family said the brutal attack had left them in shock.
Lewis’s brother-in-law, Gert Flink, said: “He always woke up early and took a walk around the house. 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.
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 everywhere, his 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.”
The family called an ambulance, but Lewis did not make it.
“We are very sad. We loved him very much and he was very popular in the community.” The family said they now wanted justice.
Matzikamma Municipality director of community services Ruben Saul said the four pit bulls attacked three people that morning, but two victims escaped.
“Sadly Mr Bam... was not so lucky and died at the scene.”
Saul said law enforcement ensured that the pit bulls were taken away. The dogs were immediately put down by a veterinarian in Vredendal.
Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said a culpable homicide docket had 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 November 21 for a decision.
“A ‘negligently allowing/failure to prevent animal to cause injury to another person’ docket was registered for the 38-year-old victim,” Van Wyk said.
Pit Bull Federation South Africa spokesperson Lehanda Rheede said they were saddened by the incident.
“The aggression of any dogs 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 what has 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,” she said.
Cape Times