Community leaders in Merebank are calling for dog owners to secure their pets after a series of pitbull attacks on Monday left a woman hospitalised and residents fearful.

Daren Pillay, a member of the Gadwal Road Neighbourhood Watch, said he was called out to a scene where a woman was mauled.

“When we got there, she was being treated by paramedics. She was bitten on her thighs, waist and stomach and had to be transported to the hospital.

“She lives on the same road as the owner of the pitbulls. As she was walking on the pavement, a female pitbull, who escaped from the yard with her four puppies, attacked the woman.

“The male pitbull then jumped over the wall and also attacked the woman. The dogs earlier bit a man, who was walking on the road and a child returning home from school."

He said the dogs often jumped over the wall and residents were "terrified" of the dogs "as they are vicious".

"The dogs were in a pathetic state. They were undernourished and neglected. The SPCA was called out and they removed the dogs and the puppies. People in the community now feel safer. The owner was nowhere to be seen after the attacks."

Pillay said the woman was still recovering in hospital.

He did not have further information on the man and child.

Shamlin Pillay, the chairperson of the Merebank Community Policing Forum, said: “Pets must be secured within properties and sent for training."

He said the CPF received reports of a child and a man being bitten earlier in the day.

“The owner did not secure the dogs as it escaped from their property for a second time and attacked the woman. Thankfully, PT Alarms Ambulance was on standby to assist the woman and transport her to a nearby hospital. The SPCA has intervened and removed the dogs."

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Community urges dog owners to secure properties after pitbull attacks