Lusaka stray dogs to be shot dead

LUSAKA City Council (LCC) and Zambia Police Service have joined forces to eliminate stray dogs in all 33 wards in the capital city.

LCC Public relations manager George Sichimba disclosed that the local authority would this week start killing stray, unvaccinated and unregistered dogs in the city.

Mr Sichimba said in an interview yesterday that the destruction of the dogs was aimed at approaching public health matters in a more proactive manner rather than being reactive to rabies, whose outbreak was due to bites by unvaccinated dogs.

He said the extermination of the dogs would also help increase levels of compliance by owners for fear of having their dogs being shot dead.

He recalled that last year, LCC through the Department of Public Health embarked on door- to-door dog registration and vaccination of dogs in all the wards.

Mr Sichimba said the law required that only two dogs should be kept per household and if more than two dogs were to be kept, express permission should be sought from the council.

“It is now time to act as no affected dog owner will be expected to complain should their dogs be found wanting and destroyed, and as a local authority we have observed that majority of people have not been observing the requirements of the law, therefore, the prevalence of dogs roaming the streets especially in compounds (will be checked),” Mr Sichimba said.

Mr Sichimba also said Lusaka residents had been sensitized on how to keep dogs in line with the Control of Dogs Act Cap 247 of the Laws of Zambia.

He said dogs should also be confined during day time and let free at night, but they should be secured within the owner’s premises.

“The problem of stray dogs is also found in common places such as schools, colleges, police camps and universities, thereby threatening the safety of citizens and as a local authority, we are hoping that residents will support the activity in order to eliminate rabies in Lusaka city,” he said