…as dogbites plague Masvingo
By Virginia Njovo
Masvingo City Council has resolved to engage Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) to shoot stray dogs across Masvingo City as dog bites continue to rise in the country’s oldest town.
This was revealed in the full council meeting held recently where the local authority said the Health, Housing and Environmental Services Committee had agreed that the city’s public relations office should notify residents of the tie up order.
“On the dog tie up order, the request to engage the Zimbabwe National Army at a cost of stray dog shooting in the commonage was granted, the Public Relations Office was tasked to advise residents on the dog tie and shooting exercise,” reads the minutes.
Commenting on the resolution, Masvingo Urban ward 1 councillor Sabina Chikwangwani said council should not notify residents of the tie up order as it will yield no results because people would tie up their dogs and release them after.
“This is a great move especially in my ward; there is lot of unleashed dogs. I therefore request authorities that they do not give notice to residents but come unannounced because once they are notified, they will leash their dogs and free them after so they will continue roaming,” said Chikwangwani.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) recently showed that Masvingo Province was recording high cases of dog bites since last year.
Masvingo City recorded fifty-seven dog bites in six months.
Masvingo City Council Public Relations Officer Ashleigh Jinjika told TellZim News earlier that they were working with other relevant stakeholders to try and control the situation.
“As Masvingo City, in the first half that is from January to June 2024, we have recorded a total number of 57 dog bites, a figure which is worrisome.
“Stray animals especially dogs spread deadly diseases such as rabies and parvovirus which pose threat to human life through bites and attacks therefore we encourage residents to report stray animals to the Municipal Police and Health Department,” said Jinjika.
She urged pet owners to comply with the regulations and ensure that they licence their pets as well as vaccinating them so as to reduce the spread of rabies and other infectious diseases since there were penalties for non-compliance.
Council also once suggested that they take stock of the number of dogs in the commonage and assign water meter readers to take stock to enable council to institute control measures on the number of dogs per each household.
Apart from stray dogs, the local authority was facing a new challenge of stray cattle which were seen roaming in areas like Rhodhene, Zimre Park as well as Eastvale.
The full council resolved that they will craft a bylaw that enables the local authority to detain stray animals and fine the owners since they had no such bylaw because the issue was new.
