Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) is out to intensify its operation to remove free-roaming dogs in areas under its jurisdiction to curb the spread of rabies.
SIBU (June 13): Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) is out to intensify its operation to remove free-roaming dogs in areas under its jurisdiction to curb the spread of rabies.
Council chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai lists housing estates, as well as the bazaars in Selangau, Stapang and Sibu Jaya Township, as its targeted locations.
“Currently, the dogs unit of SRDC follows the scheduled operation. The only issue now is that most fatalities (due to rabies in SRDC’s area) were linked to bites from pet dogs or guard dogs.
“Normally, the operation to catch the dogs become difficult as the owners may keep their pet dogs (within their house compounds) when the SRDC Dogs Unit team arrives at the reported location.
“In the case of real stray dogs, there’s not much problem for the unit to catch them,” Sempurai told thesundaypost.
He was asked if SRDC would beef up its operation to remove free-roaming dogs from the streets, following the recent death of 45-year-old local man, who lived in a sawmill worker’s house in Stapang, Selangau District.
On June 10, the Health Ministry announced this case, bringing the total number of fatalities due to rabies in Sarawak to four.
In a statement, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the victim was confirmed positive on May 11, and died one day later from what was later diagnosed as rabies encephalitis.
“The male victim was placed at Sibu Hospital on May 6, having experienced fever, headache, sore throat, pain when drinking water, and hydrophobia.
“He had a history of being bitten, firstly on his calf, and in another incident, on his chin, by two different dogs belonging to a fellow worker at the sawmill area in February and March this year, respectively.
“However, the victim did not seek treatment after being bitten,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
In this regard, Sempurai reminded all pet owners to keep their dogs within their house compounds or placed them inside the cages.
“The irresponsible act on the part of the dog owners could lead to these dogs roaming around (the streets) and getting infected with the rabies virus from other dogs.
Meanwhile, Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) Sarawak director Dr Adrian Susin Ambud gave this advice: “DVS Sarawak reminds the public to get immediate treatment if bitten or scratched by any animal, and report the incident to DVS Sarawak for further investigation.
“As for any dog owner, you are required to keep your pets confined to your premises and not let them roam freely outside your compounds. Failure to do such is an offence under Section 37 of the Veterinary Public Health Ordinance 1999.
“You must also ensure that your pet dogs are vaccinated annually, as failure to do so would be constituted as an offence under Section 40 of the same Ordinance.”