Rottweiler fights dog to save boy

A South African Rottweiler has helped rescue a two-year-old boy who was being mauled by a pit bull terrier.

The pit bull attacked Tshepang Taeli as he was walking with his grandmother in Oakdene, south of Johannesburg.

The dog was dragging the toddler down the road and would not let go, despite being kicked and beaten by residents.

One of the neighbours, Ricky Veludo, came to help and then went to fetch his dog, Blade. "He fought the other dog to free the child," he told a local paper.

"Blade is very protective," Mr Veludo told Die Beeld newspaper.

The boy was then rushed to hospital where he is recovering from bites to his face, legs and stomach.

"I have never felt so much pain in my life. The dog was attacking him and I was trying to release him and I could not," the boy's grandmother told The Star newspaper.

Police have opened an investigation into the attack.