Mayor: Authorities to continue rounding up free-roaming dogs
KUCHING: The authorities will continue rounding up strays and pet dogs that roam freely in public places as part of ongoing efforts to stop the spread of rabies.
Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Datuk James Chan said a decision to continue catching dogs on the loose was agreed upon by the council, Ministry of Local Government and Housing as well as local community leaders.
“We have received so many calls from concerned members of the public on the presence of dogs roaming the streets. There are strays who look sickly and this makes the public even more fearful of being bitten,” he said following a dialogue session with Save Our Strays ( SOS) Kuching, Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( SSPCA), community leaders and the public here yesterday.
According to Chan, all parties during the dialogue had agreed that sickly-looking dogs with no PVC chain indicating they had been vaccinated will be removed from public areas and urged all to cooperate in the fight against rabies.
He went on to say that some enforcers tasked with rounding up dogs in public places had encountered obstruction by people who claimed to be SOS members.
We have received so many calls from concerned members of the public on the presence of dogs roaming the streets. There are strays who look sickly and this makes the public even more fearful of being bitten. Datuk James Chan, Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor
“We all are against rabies and not any individual or dogs. The removal operation is actually saving healthy dogs from diseased dogs.
“The government is doing the proper thing to ensure people’s safety. If we all cooperate, we can win this war,” said Chan.