[GRAPHIC CONTENT] Neighbours Pit bull mauls to death 8-year-old boy in his home in Bloemfontein

Police are investigating an incident in which a Pit bull mauled to death an eight-year-old boy at his home in Vista Park, Bloemfontein.

The police spokesperson Thabo Covane says the dog allegedly escaped from its enclosure, jumped over the fence and went to the neighbour’s premises. It then attacked the child who was playing alone, biting him severely on the neck and chest.

The boy was declared dead on the scene.

Covane says the dog has been put down.

SPCA spokesperson in Bloemfontein, Reinet Meyer, says they have removed other dogs from the same property.

“There were also two other dogs on the scene; one a rottweiler and a crossbreed. One of the dogs was also vicious toward the community. Therefore we removed the animals and took them to the SPCA for safety for the time being because there are people at the owner’s house and we are scared that some more incidents will happen and the dog gets frustrated or scared,” says Meyer.

Pit bull Federation of SA

Earlier this year, the Pitbull Federation of South Africa said they were shocked to see the alarming increase in attacks on children by Pitbulls.

This came after a five-year-old was viciously attacked by the breed in Pretoria, thus renewing calls for better regulation of the dog and ownership permits.