WHEN builders saw a helpless girl being tossed by a pit bull, they knew they had little time to save her.
So, they quickly dumped their work, took their building tools and ran to rescue the five-year-old girl.
And to remove the vicious dog from the little girl, they had to strike the dog with shovels until it let go.
But the little girl from Buhle Park was already bleeding with scratches on her face.
After the incident, some angry residents went to the house of the pit bull owner to pelt the dog with stones and demanded that he hand it over to them.
ALSO READ: Pasop, there's a lion on the loose!
"We are tired of these dogs that are killing people. We want these vicious dogs out of our kasi," said one angry resident.
The mother said the only thing running through her mind was that her daughter lost one of her eyes.
"She was covered in blood on her face and I feared one would be gone, but I'm happy it wasn’t the case," she said.
The girl was rushed to a local doctor after the dog owner offered to pay for the costs.
"Pit bulls are killers and we have heard stories before, but I did not think this could one day happen to my child," said the mum.
She said she thanks the builders who saved her daughter.
"We could be saying something different now. I thank God," she said.
According to residents, the dog grabbed the girl on the street and was about to bite her neck when the builders jumped to save her.
The dog had since been taken by SPCA.
One of the hero builders told Daily Sun his fatherly instincts kicked in when he saw the young girl cry for help.
"We didn't think twice, we took our shovels and went to fight the dog. It was a scary thing to watch and do. We know pit bulls kill people."
The owner of the dog, who did not want to be named, said they were sorry about what happened and were paying the medical costs of the little girl.
"The dog escaped when a child opened the gate to go play in the street," said the owner.
Police spokeswoman Sergeant Daphney Phooko said a case of assault relating to a vicious dog was opened at Elsburg cop shop.
