KUCHING, April 29: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) is advising dog owners to get their pets vaccinated and protected from mixing with stray dogs to prevent them from getting infected with rabies.
According to MPP chairman Lo Khere Chiang, in Epid Week 1-16 (Jan 3 – April 25), a total of 518 animal bite cases were recorded in the MPP area.
“However, zero case of rabies were recorded in MPP area, and out of the total 518 cases recorded, 286 cases or 55 per cent of the bite cases were from pet dogs. The reason why all pet dogs should be vaccinated and should be prevented from mingling freely with strays is to prevent this,” he said during a live press conference held after the council meeting via a Zoom session today.
He stressed that apart from vaccination, pet owners must also neuter their animals, and should not feed any stray dogs roaming around.
As long as a rabies outbreak is declared, he said, dogs that have been captured by the Council cannot be returned to the owner.
This is to prevent owners from intentionally letting their pets associate with other stray dogs whose status is unknown and resulting in their pets getting infected with the virus.
“Feeding strays aggravates the problems. Rabies is still around. 99.9 per cent die after being bitten by dogs with rabies. Vaccinated dogs should be confined to their homes.
“A total of 290 dogs were captured by the MPP Dog Control Unit, for the first three months of the year,” he added. — DayakDaily
