SOS from Alamanda Indah folk
Residents of newly rabies-declared area want immediate action taken on stray dogs
We love animals – I love dogs and consider them as humans – but for the safety of the residents here particularly the young children, please do something before it’s too late. Ho Ann Nee, temple caretaker
Residents of Taman Alamanda Indah at Jalan Matang are urging the government to take immediate action on stray dogs in the area, following the declaration on Monday that it is now rabies infected.
Temple caretaker Ho Ann Nee, 60, wants the relevant authorities to check the area thoroughly so that the right preventive measures could be taken immediately.
“I was bitten by a dog in Pusa, Betong many years ago and I still bear the scar. So in order to prevent people from getting bitten by rabid dogs, we need to do something before it’s too late. This disease has taken innocent lives in Serian and we surely do not want any more people affected by the disease,” Ho told The Borneo Post at the Chinese temple in Taman Alamanda Indah here yesterday.
“We love animals – I love dogs and consider them as humans – but for the safety of the residents here particularly the young children, please do something before it’s too late,” he added.
Ho, who has been working at the temple for four years, said he also keeps dogs at the temple and hopes that they can be protected from the virus.
“Prevention is always better than cure. We heard about the tragedy in Serian and we do not want this to happen here. Please vaccinate these dogs with antirabies vaccines so that they will not spread the virus,” he appealed.
For chicken rice vendor Cham Jun Ming, 23, who operates at a nearby eatery, he was surprised that the disease had spread to Taman Alamanda Indah and was shocked by the news report.
“I thought this ( rabies) only happens in other areas such as Serian, but now it is here. This is worrisome as there are kindergartens in the area – there are many young children here playing outside their houses, especially in late afternoon,” he said.
Cham suggested that there should be more awareness of rabies – he admitted to not knowing if a dog had been infected.
“I like to know more about the danger and so I would like to appeal to the authorities to run more awareness programmes for the residents here,” said Cham.
He was also worried that due to the outbreak in the area, people would stop patronising his stall to have their meals. A kindergarten teacher, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, said her school houses 74 children.
“Some government officials came here early this morning to put up posters about rabies at our centre. We hope that they would do more because parents are worried about their children studying here,” she said, assuring all that her school is safe.
“But we want the surrounding environment to be safe as well. So we hope that the relevant authorities would do something to address the issue of stray dogs. I am also worried as there are many children from the housing area here who have to come to the kindergarten on foot,” she added, pointing out that she had seen many stray dogs around lately.
A stall owner selling Malay traditional cakes, Ibrahim Bolhi, 46, hoped that the relevant authorities would take immediate steps to remove stray dogs in the area.
“There are at least eight to 10 of them (stray dogs) lurking around my stall – I’m worried that they might bite my customers,” he said.