SIBU, July 17: Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Clarence Ting is deeply disappointed by the poor response of the dog anti rabies vaccination drive being jointly organised by the council and Sibu Veterinary Department.
Ting visited a campaign at Grand Heights on Thursday and was not too pleased with the low turnout by dog owners.
“The response is disappointing. I am going to push for compulsory registration. This attitude cannot prevail in our community,” he said.
He disclosed there was only one registration done for the whole morning at the registration for dog tags. The registration tag entitled dogs to have free vaccination.
Ting said he was told by the registration staff that the poor response was because dog owners felt that it was not necessary to register their animals for the tag as they are kept at home.
Disappointed by the lackadaisical attitude of animal owners, Ting vowed to push for compulsory registration.
Meanwhile nine more vaccination drives will take place from July 23 to September 18 at Permai Lake Gardens, July 28 and 29 (Civic Centre), August 5-6 (Sg Merah Heritage Walk), August 12- 13 (Uni-city car park), August 18 -19 (Hin Hua Memorial Park), August 26 -27 (SMC library car park ), September 2- 3 (Swan Square car park ), September 9-10 (Kpg Bahagia fair price mini market), and September 17-18 (Taman Satria shoplot car park).
The first rabies case this year was a five-year-old girl who died in Sibu on March 26. On June 23, a 62-year-old man died at Sibu Hospital from rabies. He was bitten on his right calf by a dog belonging to his brother on May 12 in Kampung Sentosa.
The Department of Veterinary Services Sarawak had on June 13 announced 10 rabies infected areas at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Lorong Permai Timur, Kampung Bahagia Jaya Teku, Sibujaya, Mile 1/2 Jalan Oya, Jalan Hua Khiew, Ulu Sungai Merah, Taman Sanhill Barat, Jalan Oya Lama and Jalan Sentosa.-DayakDaily
