No, you won’t get R1 500 for reporting owners of pit bulls.

A circulating message claiming that citizens will get a R1 500 reward for capturing pit bulls or reporting households owning the breed, is nothing but a scam, the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) and the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation have warned.

They urged South Africans to not hand over their pit bulls to scammers masquerading as SPCA inspectors, who apparently rob people of their dogs.

The foundation and the animal welfare group are at the forefront of an online petition to have pit bulls banned as domestic pets in South Africa.

The petition, launched by the foundation on 7 October, and backed by NSPCA, has garnered more than 44 000 signatures so far. It was sparked by a spate of deadly pit bull attacks across the country.

The NSPCA said the “bounty” post, which is from an unverified government Twitter account, was highly questionable given that it contained no contact information.

“It is likely that the post may have been generated by an individual/group with the aim of obtaining the addresses of where pit bulls are kept in order to cause harm to the animals, their owners or both and places pit bulls and their owners at risk. If you have come across the post, please report it.”

The NSPCA also warned of a second scam where unscrupulous individuals were impersonating SPCA personnel, and demanding that people hand their pit bulls over to them.

“This is also a scam. The SPCA is NOT going door-to-door and demanding that people hand over their pit bulls,” it said.

The organisation stressed: Please be vigilant and safe. Do not hand your animals over 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.

Meanwhile, the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation has distanced itself from such posts, which founder and patron Sizwe Kupelo described as “fake news”.

The foundation called on people to support its petition calling for the ban of the breed.

When it reached 50 000, the petition would be handed over to Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza, with the hopes that government would heed the call to protect and save lives by imposing a ban on the breed, the foundation said.

“We are calling on people not to be misled by the social media posts which say people who report homes with pit bulls will be paid between R1 500 and R2 500. Let us put more pressure on government and speak in one voice: ban the wild animals known as pit bulls now.”

It added that too many lives had already been lost, and that survivors of attacks had been scarred for life.

News24