WATCH: Killer canines: Are all dog breeds safe for domestic ownership?

22 May, 2022 - 00:05 0 Views
WATCH: Killer canines: Are all dog breeds safe for domestic ownership? Boerboel dog

The Sunday News

Bruce Ndlovu, Features Reporter
THERE was a certain decorum that those that live along Mpukunyoni Road in Selborne Park observed when they passed by or near Mr John Gavhera’s house.

On Mpukunyoni Road, looking both ways before you crossed the road was perhaps not as important as making sure that the gate to Mr Gavhera’s home was closed before one passed it. In every neighbourhood, there are unwritten rules and in that particular pocket of the plush suburb of Selborne, scripture said that none should pass if the gates were slightly ajar.

On two previous occasions when this invisible rule book had been ignored, neighbours told Sunday News, the three Boerboel dogs that stood guard in Mr Gavhera’s yard had attacked two people, one of them an elderly woman.

Sometimes, neighbours said, bored by guarding the empty unthreatening air inside their own yard, the dogs would show their aerobatic prowess, leaping to the top of the wall to bark menacingly at anyone passing by.

So fearsome were the three canines that neighbours were even afraid to reel in fruit that hung perilously near Mr Gavhera’s yard. Of course, they also knew that there was nothing that they could do to get rid of the trio.

Council statutes state that as long as dogs are secure within premises, one is allowed to keep them, no matter how vicious or menacing they might appear to neighbours.

“The by-laws state that no person shall keep a dog aged six months or more within the city boundaries without being licensed by the Council. The number of dogs that can be kept on any property measuring less than 2 000m2 shall not be more than two. The maximum number of dogs that can be kept on any property more than 2 000m2 is 4. Anyone desirous of keeping more than the stipulated number of dogs should apply to Council for permission. Furthermore, it is required by the by-laws that all dog owners should ensure that their properties are securely fenced and gated so as to keep the dogs within the limits of their properties,” council statutes state.

However, last week was the latest illustration of how Boerboels, like other big dogs, can be deadly even to those that have raised them since they were puppies. After returning home unexpectedly to collect his toolbox at around midday, Mr Gavhera was fatally attacked by two of his dogs, in a spectacle that shocked and confirmed this neighbours’ worst fears. These dogs always had the potential to kill. What they did not expect however, was for them to kill the house owner, a man who had a hand in raising them.

As the Gavhera family mourned their patriarch, across the Limpopo, another family was about to be brought to grief by another big dog. According to her neighbours in Marabastad, Charmaine Munepya (6) was playing a few metres from her home in a neighbour’s yard with her friends last Monday when a Pit Bull gained access through the fence.

The dog allegedly charged towards the four children who scattered as they tried to flee. Out of the quartet, Munepya was the one that did not make it. In South Africa, the attack ignited a debate on whether some dog breeds are perhaps too vicious to keep within a certain environment, with some calling for certain dog breeds, like Pit Bulls and Boerboels, to be banned outright.

According to Bulawayo SPCA veterinary surgeon, Dr Anele Dube, while there are no laws that prohibit people from owning certain dog breeds. This, he said, had led people to gravitate towards dogs that simply were not equipped to keep.

“People have the impression that vicious dogs are the most suitable dogs to own. At the end you end up with the problem of dogs attacking owners or attacking family members. Not everyone is capable to look after these types of dogs. These dogs are bred for specific purposes. Some are bred for guarding and some are bred for aggression and before anyone gets a dog, they need to learn the attributes of that dog.

Dr Anele Dube

“They have to learn why a dog was created in the first place. There’s no law that prevents anyone from getting any breed of dog they want, except for one or two breeds that cannot be bred in Zimbabwe. However, the reality is that before you purchase a dog, just find out the characteristics of that dog. Some need special training by special people, for purposes of keeping at the home,” he said.

The Boerboel in particular, is a dog that was initially not bred for urban domestication. The Boerboel breed descended from the ancient Molosser-type dogs around the mid-1600s in Africa. Its name was given by the Dutch, German, and Huguenot settlers, where “Boer” means farmer and “boel” means dog. It’s an old Dutch/Afrikaans term that translates to “farmer’s dog.” They were initially bred to serve as the first line of defence from predators such as hyenas, lions, leopards, and packs of marauding baboons.

According to Cesar Millan, an animal trainer known for his award-winning show Dog Whisperer, some people are gravitating towards bigger, more vicious dogs because they are an accessory that makes themselves look menacing.

“Bad things happen when powerful breeds (or mixes of powerful breeds) live with humans who like the breed but don’t understand and fulfil the animal in the dog,” Millan wrote. “Many people consider the look or popularity of a breed before thinking about whether the dog works for their lifestyle. This is a recipe for disaster.”

Local dog breeder, Mr Nhlanhla Dube, said that Boerboels were only fit to be bred by people prepared to live a certain lifestyle, a lifestyle punctuated by habit and consistency.

“You train them, and the training is not necessarily by taking them to a dog trainer there by ZRP or a private dog trainer. You train them as the owner by your own habits and what you do, for instance, you can train them that when you open the gates, they don’t run out. You can train them to know that they have a certain plate that they eat from and they are not supposed to eat from any other. They then get to know a certain kind of behaviour which is why they will react in a certain way to strangers.

“Dogs are very protective towards families and this is why Boerboels are brilliant family dogs. You will hear people say that they are rough towards kids. Yes, there are character streaks that can be different, because dogs are individuals but it depends on how you train them.

If you raise your dog as a family dog, it will be friendly towards family and it will not bite its owners. If you chain it, and lock it up during the day, it increases its aggression and will be aggressive and even bite other family members that do not fraternise with it. Mostly bigger breeds will have that kind of aggression and protective instinct. But the common dogs that we know, you can come home drunk and there will be no problem,” he said.

Due to the fact that dogs are close relatives of wolves, Mr Dube said, in most cases they were always in search of a pack leader. If one was not ready to play that role, particularly with big dogs, it was perhaps if one did not own or breed them.

“When dogs are bred, certain traits have been formed in their genetics. They were selected because of certain traits. It can be a guard dog or a family dog. Dogs are like wolves; they are from that family and so dogs of an aggressive nature need a pack leader. In a home, if you are going to raise dogs, they need to be a pack leader, someone who commands them, that is the final authority. Normally it is the father in the family setup. If he tells them to go away, they go away. This is because they’re pack based.

“Therefore, if you cannot control big or aggressive dogs, don’t breed them because dogs can also tell when you’re afraid. If you also don’t have time for them, don’t own them. Dogs like Rottweilers and Boerboels love to be walked, if you’re not going to walk them don’t own them.

This is because some of the frustration for big dogs comes from being confined for a long time. Boerboels love to the play and they love attention. Don’t grow them using the whip because as they grow, they think everyone carrying a stick is ready to attack and they react,” he said.

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