*📰26 000 Zimbabweans Attacked As Pitbulls Wreak Havoc In 11 months* *FOLLOW THIS CHANNEL:✅* https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VafsqhK3GJP4zKewiH3u Dog attacks are spiralling out of control in Zimbabwe, with over 26,000 people bitten in just 11 months, prompting growing public concern and calls for tighter animal control laws. According to a 2024 report from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), 25,996 dog bites were recorded across the country between January and November 2024. In just the first week of January 2025, another 635 cases were reported—signalling a continued crisis. Amid the alarming rise in dog-related violence, pitbulls and boerboels, two powerful dog breeds, have been at the centre of a disturbing series of fatal attacks in recent years—claiming the lives of at least 13 people since 2014. Most recently, on June 1, 2025, 39-year-old Samuel Machara was mauled to death by pitbulls in New Bluffhill, Harare. The dogs’ owner, Mike Mupinga, was arrested for culpable homicide. Residents had reportedly lodged several complaints over the years as Mupinga’s dogs frequently escaped through gaps in his boundary wall, chasing children, killing pets, and attacking workers. Authorities only intervened after the fatal incident. The ZNSPCA confiscated and euthanized the animals, citing neglect and inadequate confinement. In January 2025, Roddie Mannie was killed by his own pitbulls at his home in Sunningdale, despite attempts by neighbours to intervene. A similarly horrific attack occurred in March 2023, when a 9-year-old girl was mauled to death by a pitbull in Whitecliffe, Harare. Just days earlier, Takawira Gift Muzvidziwa (68), a security guard, was fatally attacked by four pit bulls at a commercial property in Waterfalls. Boerboels have also been responsible for deadly incidents. In October 2022, a 7-year-old boy in Norton was killed after entering a yard to fetch water. The owners were acquitted on grounds that the child had entered the dog’s territory. That same month, Nakai Ngosh (6) was killed by two dogs while playing at her uncle’s homestead in Goromonzi. In August 2022, a 6-year-old girl was mauled by boerboels in Matsheumhlophe, Bulawayo. She had merely stepped out of her family’s rented cottage to check on electricity. In May 2022, John Gavhera (61) was savaged by his own three Boerboel-cross dogs at his home in Selbourne Park, Bulawayo after jumping his gate without alerting them. The brutal attack lasted nearly an hour. Earlier cases include a 2018 fatality in Beitbridge, a 2016 mass attack by eight dogs in Masvingo that killed a 4-year-old and severely injured another child, and a 2014 German shepherd attack in which 6-year-old Praise Mavhiringidzewas killed and partially eaten by seven dogs in Masvingo. The alarming frequency of such incidents has led animal welfare groups and victims’ families to call for stricter laws, improved dog ownership standards, and tougher penalties for negligence. With dog attacks continuing into 2025, the urgency for national action has never been more pressing.