Tacloban vet office roams city to impound stray dogs

TACLOBAN CITY –– The City Veterinary Office (CVO) of this city has stepped up its campaign against stray dogs after a five-year-old boy was mauled and killed by at least 10 stray dogs in Isabela City, Basilan.

While there has been no similar case in Tacloban City for the past 10 years, Dr. Eunice Alcantara, city veterinary officer, said they didn’t want to be complacent.

“That was alarming. That is why we have further stepped up in our campaign against stray dogs in the city, though for the past 10 years or so, we have not recorded of a human case (who died due to a dog bite),” Alcantara said.

Since Tuesday, two teams from the CVO have been roaming the city to impound stray dogs.

These dogs, she said, are placed in an impounding area where their owners are given three days to claim them with a charge of P2,000.

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Last year, the VCO was able to impound 2,400 stray dogs. However, only one percent of these dogs were retrieved by their owners.

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Alcantara said the remaining dogs were killed and buried in a pit.

“We really have to eliminate these stray dogs because, aside from causing vehicular accidents, they bite those in the streets, mostly children,” she said.

These stray dogs, she added, could also transmit diseases like tapeworms.

They estimate that there are more than 24,000 dogs in the city. Their office, however, could not determine how many of these dogs are on the streets.

Alcantara issued an appeal to dog owners to be responsible and keep their pets inside their houses or put them on a leash or in cages.

Tacloban has introduced an animal code in 2006 that enumerated the responsibilities of dog owners and their liabilities, like shouldering medical expenses once their dogs have bitten someone. (Editor: Leti Boniol)

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