The leafy suburb of Bluff Hill in Harare is reeling with a mixture of grief and outrage after a 39-year-old man was killed by a pit bull yesterday. The tragic incident has ignited long-standing concerns among residents, who say their repeated appeals to the dog owner about the danger posed by his animals had been ignored.
Mike Mupinga, 40, the owner of the dogs, has been arrested in connection with the incident.
“ZRP Mabelreign arrested Mike Mupinga (40) in connection with a case of culpable homicide which occurred at the suspect’s residence,” police said in a statement. “The case stems from an incident where his pit bull dogs allegedly attacked and mauled Samuel Machara (39) to death on 01/06/25. The body of the victim was found near the suspect’s residence with dog bite wounds. The body was referred to the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals mortuary for post-mortem.”
National police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that Mupinga had been charged with culpable homicide over the death of Samuel Machara.
Residents who spoke to H-Metro expressed their deep sorrow and frustration, stating that Mupinga’s pit bulls had become a significant menace in their neighbourhood. Some claimed that Mupinga at one time kept as many as 15 or 16 pit bulls on his property, but that the number had decreased due to infighting among the dogs.
The residents said their children no longer use the street where Mupinga’s house is located because of concerns they will be attacked by the pit bulls. “Vana havatodariki kana inini ndakapedzisira kudhara dhara kudarika road iyi,” said a resident, expressing their fear.
Another resident, who has lived in Bluff Hill for seven years, said: “Tinototya, hatidi kukunyeperai. Dzakauraya huku dzepa Mai Tari dzikadya huku dzepa Baba Maita but muridzi wacho hapana zvaanoita, Muno muBluff Hill vanenge vachingoti pama pit bulls paye saka iye akutoona kunge arikubvira. Vanhu vagara vachingo complainer.” (We are afraid, we won’t lie to you. They killed Mai Tari’s chickens and ate Baba Maita’s chickens, but the owner does nothing. Here in Bluff Hill, people are always complaining about those pit bulls, so he now sees it as a way to show off. People have been complaining for a long time.)
They further alleged that Mupinga had initially fed his dogs meat, buying 5kgs at a time, but had since stopped, leading to the dogs preying on chickens in the neighbourhood.
ZimLive heard from sources that Mupinga has several pitbulls.
“He keeps them in a house with half a durawall. We complained but he ignored us,” said one neighbour. “It was teeming with dogs in that house, but there are not as many now because they have been killing each other.”
The residents said the pit bulls find it easy to jump the short precast wall and then roam the streets. They said they have been sending complaints to the residents group chat warning that a disaster was on the horizon but their complaints were not heard. It could not be established if Mupinga, who is a tenant at the house where he stays, is in the residents group chat.
A resident said he told Mupinga that he was keeping very dangerous dogs but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Another neighbour revealed that when a house helper from the neighbourhood was bitten by the dogs, Mupinga paid for her treatment and got her a nurse to stop her filing a police report which would have led to the dogs being put down. Other locals said friends were too scared to visit them because of the notoriously vicious dogs which roam freely outside.
Journalist Maynard Manyowa is familiar with Mupinga’s pitbulls. He recalled: “In 2023 they chased my kids. Last year they killed another dog. Owner was rude when we pleaded with him. His dogs move around as a pack at night and cause real terror. They have killed people’s cats, dogs and chickens. This isn’t the first attack on people either. Council and some authorities came in 2024 in response and took away some strays. Some were taken. But owner claimed they were not strays. I have no kind words for the owner.”
Former Harare deputy mayor Kudzai Kadzombe said: “I have called the SPCA and they have taken four dogs from the property – two pitbulls, one rottweiler Hungarian mastiff.”
The incident has reignited the debate surrounding the ownership of dangerous dog breeds, particularly pit bulls, in residential areas. Pit bulls are banned in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Other countries have restrictions on pit bulls, including keeping them leashed and muzzled in public spaces.
This tragedy is not an isolated incident in Zimbabwe. In May 2022, John Gavhera from Selborne in Bulawayo was killed by his own pitbulls after jumping over the wall to gain access to the house, having forgotten his house keys. In March 2023, a nine-year-old girl died from injuries sustained in a pitbull attack in Harare’s Whitecliffe neighbourhood. In the same month, a 68-year-old security guard died from a pitbull attack at business premises along Sherwood Crescent in Waterfalls, Harare.
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