“Severely traumatised” is how an elderly Sherwood woman described her feelings after she was left with no choice but to shoot dead two pitbulls.
The pitbulls scaled Yvonne van der Watt’s 2m wall on Thursday morning in Bangor Street and proceeded to brutally attack the 72-year-old woman’s three-year-old mixedbreed dog, Bruno.
When a desperate Van der Watt struggled to ward the pitbulls off Bruno, the dogs turned their ferocity on her and her brother-in-law, Egbert Schlodder, 68, who had rushed outside the house when he heard what he described as an intense commotion.
Schlodder, wielding a sjambok, said he had tried in vain to get the dogs apart.
Van der Watt then ran to a nearby hose pipe in the yard, but the water attack appeared to aggravate the animals even more as they dragged Bruno from the backyard to the front.
After frantic calls to the security company, neighbourhood watch and police – Van der Watt ran into the house where she grabbed a shotgun and killed the pitbulls.
On Thursday afternoon, blood spatters and smears could still be seen at the entrance to the house and on the carpet in the lounge.
“The [neighbours’] dogs and our dogs have been here for years and we’ve never had any trouble before,” Schlodder said.
“We’re all animal lovers, but shooting the pitbulls was the only thing we could do. They just wouldn’t let up.”
Van der Watt took Bruno to a veterinarian and returned home with the injured dog on Thursday afternoon.
“He’s severely traumatised and so am I, and I am very sad by what’s happened,” she said.
The owners of the pitbulls – a mother and son who did not want their names to be published – had mixed feelings.
“It has never happened before, but I understand why the lady [Van der Watt] shot and killed the dogs. The dogs were like family to us.
“It’s like a family member has died,” the mother said.
Her son, said: “I don’t understand why they had to kill my pitbulls. I paid R2,000 for each of those dogs so my heart is broken. I’m devastated.”
Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said no criminal case would be opened as the woman had acted in self-defence.
“If, however, the dog owner later wants to open a case for the attack, she is allowed to.”