Windhoek
Government will not ban anyone from owning pit bull terriers and there is no need for new legislation on dog ownership, for now at least.
Attorney-General Sacky Shanghala said last week there is no need for new legislation to enhance dog control in the country, but that laws and regulations relating to the ownership of dangerous dogs must be strictly enforced and adhered to.
“Rather than creating new legislation the best option currently would be to amend the penalty under the Regulations for the Control of Dogs in Municipal Areas, 1968. If the consequences of improper dog ownership were higher, citizens would rethink flagrantly disobeying the law,” Shanghala said.
The newly appointed Attorney-General made the remarks last Thursday in a ministerial statement he delivered to the National Assembly, in response to demands from members of the public who pleaded with government to ban the ownership of pit bull terriers in Namibia after 13-year-old Fred Savage was mauled to death by two pit bulls last month in Windhoek.
Following Savage’s gruesome death at the jaws of pit bulls, Shanghala said members of the public requested him to approach the Supreme Court to have the court declare pit bulls illegal in Namibia. Some people even approached the prime minister, he said.
Shanghala also stressed the importance of stricter regulation of the ownership of dangerous dogs: “One can consider what other countries have done to regulate the ownership and create local regulations on par with international standards.”
Should there be need for further regulation of dangerous breeds, Shanghala said government will need to promulgate specific legislation to which the entire country must subscribe to. “Municipalities will then no longer be left to regulate the ownership of dogs as they see fit”.