Boy, 6, mauled to death by 7 dogs

A SIX-YEAR OLD schoolboy from Drewton Farm near Makoholi Research Station in the Mushagashe small-scale commercial farming area was on Monday mauled to death by seven German shepherd dogs which ate part of his body.

The boy was on his way to school when the incident, which left his body severely dismembered, occurred.

The rampaging dogs believed to be owned by a neighbouring commercial farmer Mr Edward Nhemachena allegedly consumed some of Praise Mavhiringidze's body parts after attacking him, before dragging it into roadside bushes.

Praise, an ECD level B pupil at Govere Primary School in the area, was walking to school alone around 6am when the dogs pounced on him.

The dogs scared herdboys who tried to approach the scene where they were eating Praise's remains, about 1,5kilometres from his school and about half a kilometre from his home.

Police attended the scene after a few hours and found the dogs milling around Praise's corpse and allegedly tried to shoot them, but failed after their rifle jammed.

The dogs eventually fled when people who came to the scene scared them away and they were still at large, raising fear in the community. When The Herald arrived at Makoholi, police had taken Praise's remains to Masvingo General Hospital mortuary.

His stepfather Mr Herbert Madhara, an employee at Makoholi Research Station, said he was at a loss for words.
"It is really painful that my stepson met the end of his life in this manner," he said.

"I saw my stepson's corpse as police were taking it away and I could see that the lips and the rest of the face had been eaten together with the skin that covers the skull.

"The dogs also ate a large part of the abdomen and the back which barely had any flesh, part of the legs were also eaten."
Praise's mother Ms Elizabeth Zvokuomba (26) could not contain her emotions as she kept on crying.
"I am hurt to the bone after my first born died in such a painful way," she said.

"I am not going to demand anything from the owner of the dogs, it is up to him to do whatever comes into his heart."
Mr Munyaradzi Matyavira, who is employed at Makoholi and was one of the first to arrive at the scene, said the dogs tore off Praise's clothes during the attack.

"I only arrived at the scene after the dogs had already killed Praise," he said.

"Their teeth and face were soaked in blood and they only fled after they were attacked with stones."

Mrs Jessie Chademana, also from Makoholi, said they trekked the dogs together with some police officers to Mr Nhemachena's farm.

"We managed to positively identify the dogs that killed Praise because blood was still dripping from their faces and Mr Nhemachema admitted that he was the owner," she said.

"He also said he had not seen the dogs since the previous day (Sunday) after they escaped from the kernel."
Mr Nhemachena could not be reached for comment.

A teacher at Govere Primary, Mrs Kudzai Mufandaedza, said Praise's classmates were in shock and grief.

"The pupils could not come out of their classes for break time," she said.

"They just sat quietly in their classes and we now fear the dogs might attack more children in the area."