SANFROSSA MANYINDA writes
ABOUT 216 cases of dog bites have been recorded in Livingstone from October 2018 to March this year out of which two people have died from rabies. Livingstone City Council acting public relations manager Mumba Mafwenko said from the bites, four were suspected cases of rabies. Ms Mafwenko said as a result, the local authority has urged dog owners to ensure that their pets were registered and confined within their yards or risk having them shot down. She said that owners should ensure that their dogs were tied from 07:00 hours to 22:00 hours every day to stop them from biting people. She said that the tie-up order was being done in an effort to control the dog population and prevent the spread of rabies. “May we also take this opportunity to encourage dog owners to come through to the council to register their dogs as registration is on-going. So far 389 dogs have been registered,” she said. The council however, on Tuesday it embarked on a 5-day killing of stray dogs in the district to prevent rabies in the tourist capital.
She said that the exercise was in accordance with the control of Dogs Act Chapter 247 of the Laws of Zambia which related to the registration and control of dogs.