Dog owner fined after pet mauls woman

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Andile Tshuma, Court Reporter
A MAN (47) from Nkulumane suburb, Bulawayo has been fined $50 after his dog mauled a woman (57) from Pumula South suburb.

Martin Chiro appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Mr Stephen Ndhlovu and pleaded guilty to “allowing an unmuzzled and ferocious dog at large” charge.

The dog attacked a passerby, Ms Priscilla Dube, after it strayed onto the road.

Mr Ndhlovu said Chiro will spend 30 days in prison should he fail to pay the fine before August 31.

Prosecuting, Mr Kenneth Shava said on August 10, Ms Dube met a male brown dog as she was walking in Nkulumane, near Chiro’s residence.

“Upon seeing the complainant, the dog charged and attacked her. She was bitten on the upper right arm and she sustained an injury. The complainant then proceeded to report the matter at Nkulumane police station,” said Mr Shava.

The court heard that after the attack, Ms Dube discovered that the dog belonged to Chiro.

In court, Chiro apologised for what he said was an unfortunate incident.

He said the dog strayed because negligent children were left at home and did not keep an eye on it.

“My dogs are always secured inside the wall, they are never outside my yard. It is just that on that particular day the children were alone at home.

They were not aware that the dogs were not chained, hence they opened the gate and the dogs went out,” said Chiro.

The magistrate told Chiro to secure his dogs for the safety of the public.

“You must always be aware of the nature of the pets that you keep. Those are dangerous, vicious dogs, in a high density suburb. They should be kept on a leash or chained during the day to protect the public,” said the magistrate.

@andile_tshuma .

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