SIBU: The Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) will intensify its on-going operation to remove free-roaming dogs to curb the spread of rabies, says its chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai.
“An integrated operation to remove free-roaming dogs from the streets was mounted in the middle of this year.
“All these efforts will be futile if pet owners do not co-operate by keeping their canines within their house compounds or in cages. The responsibility must be from all parties.The council will intensify the dog catching operation within our means. We need government-to-government efforts and cooperation from other agencies. This war against rabies is not a lone war by SRDC only but all of us,” Sempurai told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Sempurai reminded the public again on the seriousness of rabies and urged them to inform the authorities of unusual behaviour of dogs and other symptoms in response to the recent death of a 34-year-old woman here due to rabies.
According to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the latest toll brought the total cases this year to four and total accumulative cases in Sarawak to 26 since July 1, 2017.
Investigation found that her house is close to a landfill with many stray dogs.
Meanwhile, Sibu Divisional Health Officer Dr Teh Jo Hun said rabies is still a threat.
“Vaccinate your dogs and keep them within house compound. Do not adopt stray, unknown dogs or puppies as pets, unless you vaccinate them as soon as possible. If bitten by dogs, don’t try to kill them as they may be infected. Call the council to catch them,” he advised.