- Two Johannesburg pit bull breeders say the demand for the dogs has gone up since the launch of the petition calling for their ban as domestic pets.
- The breeders sell them for about R2 000 each, from six weeks old.
- The high crime rate is seemingly the reason home owners want pit bulls.
Johannesburg-based pit bull owners and breeders are not convinced that the petition and calls for the banning of the animals as domestic pets will succeed.
They claim that, since the petition recently started circulating, they had seen an increase in the demand for pit bulls.
**Mzwandile said, although he owns 10 of them, he did not initially set out to breed and sell them when he got his first pit bull in 2013.
He said he got them to serve as a deterrent after several break-ins at his home.
When neighbours showed interest, he bought more, bred them, and sold them for R700 each.
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Mzwandile says that, nine years later, the price for one pit bull has more than doubled, and demand is rising.
"The demand for pit bulls is high now. Many people want them and are willing to pay for them. Others buy more than once, and when they return, they usually bring the first pit bulls to show us how big they have become. None of our buyers have come back to complain that the dog had attacked them.
"Pit bulls sell for R1 900-R2 000 each. They buy them for the very reason many people are calling for their ban. They want them because they are vicious, and homes with pit bulls aren't targets by criminals," he said.
**Tebogo's love for pit bulls was inspired by a neighbour who owned them. The 24-year-old said he was drawn to them because they brought his neighbour so much joy.
He said:
I also wanted that for myself and followed in his footsteps. I went to him and bought two, a male and a female pit bull. They mated, and months later, I heard the sound of puppies. I looked, and there were seven of them. I was excited and took them all for a walk and returned with three. People bought the rest.
He has now owned pit bulls for more than 10 years and has six at his home.
He said while it is common knowledge that pit bulls are vicious, their behaviour is determined by how they are raised and treated by their owners.
He said most people don't see pit bulls as pets that can be part of their families, but as animals they can train to attack potential intruders.
This is problematic, he said.
"Pit bulls are not meant to be locked away all day and only released at night when they are expected to look after the house. I take mine for walks to teach them how to live among human beings and to interact with them. It shows them there are more people in communities than those they see in their homes.
"Others believe pit bulls must be starved to make them more vicious. This, too, is problematic because when it escapes from the chain, it kills."
Tebogo said he is opposed to the ban for two reasons: his love for pit bulls and the dogs being his source of income.
He said:
This is my bread. I sell pit bulls for R2 000 each, and I will never accept this petition to ban them. This is a business for me. My dogs support themselves. This is how I'm able to feed them. They are fit and healthy.
He breeds pit bulls under a registered company, but National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) spokesperson Keshvi Nair said breeding animals under registered companies does not make it ethical.
She told News24 that while there was no law prohibiting the breeding of pit bulls and other dogs, she recommended adopting from animal shelters.
She said the risk of buying pit bulls from breeders was that there was no accountability for owners to raise them in safe environments.
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"When the dogs you have sold attack someone and they lose their limbs, where are you as the breeder when this happens? Where are you when these attacks occur or when they are used for dog fighting? It is the NSPCA that steps up," Nair said.
She called for the regulation of pit bull ownership, saying breeders resisted this to protect their profits.
The ownership of pit bulls has become a controversial topic.
"If these regulations are passed, if we get it right, and it does become regulation that these animals must be sterilised and castrated so that people cannot breed them, are people against this because they will not be able to breed and make a profit off of them?"
The Sizwe Kupelo Foundation, which launcheda petitioncalling for the ban on pit bulls, said the issue had been neglected for too long, and that it was too late to discuss means for training and regulation.
The foundation said:
We are not an animal-hating organisation, and we understand that others keep the breed to protect their families and themselves. We support that, but we are saying there are alternatives. It's too little, too late for training. People have been dying. The training has never been suggested in the past. How do you tell if the pit bull is in the wrong hands? It is in the behaviour of the animal itself to be vicious.
Nair said although the NSPCA did not support calls for a complete ban on pit bulls, their viciousness could not only be attributed to how they were raised by their owners. They were vicious in their genetic make-up, she added.
Gwen Vokes, a Johannesburg resident, was mauled by a neighbour's pit bull in February 2020. She had rescued her helper, who was being attacked by the dog. After she poured water over it, it let her helper go and turned on her. She lost her arm and has scars on other parts of her body from the attack.
She said, although the attack had been a life-changing event, a complete ban on pit bulls was no solution.
"We cannot wipe out a whole species from the earth, but we can have strict control measures in place as to who can breed dogs that are considered power breeds."
** Not their real names
