No, government is not offering a R1,500 reward for reporting houses with pit bulls

The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) has dismissed a social media post claiming to be from the government and offering a reward of R1,500 for reporting houses with pit bulls.

The NSPCA said the post appears to be a scam. 

The post was from an unverified government Twitter account and claimed to offer a reward of R1,500 to anyone who reported the addresses of properties keeping pit bulls. 

“The post is highly questionable given that it is from an unverified account and contains no contact information. It further contains no information as to why pit bulls are being sought to the point that a reward has been offered. The post places pit bulls and their owners at risk. If you have come across the post, please report it,” the NSPCA said.

“People are attempting to impersonate SPCA personnel and demanding people hand their pit bulls to them. This is also a scam. The SPCA is not going door-to-door and demanding people hand over their pit bulls.”

The NSPCA called for people to be vigilant and protect their animals.

“Please be vigilant and safe. Do not hand your animals to unknown people. If you can’t look after your animal for whatever reason, please take the animal to your local SPCA or animal welfare shelter directly.”

‘Ban the breed’ petition

There has been a push from the public and human rights groups to ban pit bulls as pets due to increasing numbers of the dogs attacking people, with a few deaths reported after attacks.

More than 37,000 South Africans have signed the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation petition to ban pit bulls, launched after 10-year-old Storm Nuku was recently killed by his family’s pit bulls in Gqeberha.

Foundation founder Sizwe Kupelo wrote to police minister Bheki Cele, health minister Joe Phaahla and agriculture minister Thoko Didiza, urging them to act against the breed.

“The call to ban pit bulls in South Africa comes as other countries like Russia, Finland, Denmark, the UK, Portugal, parts of Germany, China, Brazil and Australia have either banned or put restrictions on ownership of the breed or its importation,” said Kupelo.

“It is time the government takes decisive steps and imposes a complete ban on the ownership of pit bulls as domestic animals. Such a move would prevent further attacks and unnecessary deaths.”

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