‘Don’t let dogs run wild’ warning
Published on: Thursday, June 23, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
The dogs on this Penampang road became ‘friends’ with the Council’s staff after coming over to smell him.
Kota Kinabalu: The District Council has chided two Penampang dog-owners for releasing their pets unsupervised onto their housing road, while City Hall is keeping an eye out for strays on two stretches in a Luyang neighbourhood.This action was prompted by feedback from rate-payers in these respective areas about the nuisance created by these canines.
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A Council spokesman said both dog-owners were reminded about the agency’s guidelines on the rearing of such pets, including the need to accompany their canines when these animals were in the common areas around the neighbourhood.
“They were asked to keep their dogs inside their compound, if they were unable to do this” he said.
“One of the pair was also told to mend his fence as it looked as if his pets had made themselves a hole in one section through which to escape his yard.”
Both individuals agreed to comply with the Council’s requirements, according to him.
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The agency’s action was prompted by a claim, from one KANNY, that passers-by had been chased by canines wandering about on the road outside her house.
“I almost got bitten when I went for a jog one morning,” she said.
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“Three dogs came after me at around 6am. Thankfully I managed to outrun them and get back safely into my compound.”
Kanny provided the Hotline with the location of her the name of the housing road on which the incident occurred. This information was forwarded to the Council.
The spokesman said three officers from its Animal and Vector Unit (AVU) went to her neighbourhood at around 6am, two days after learning about what happened.
”Three dogs approached one of our staff at the time, none of which behaved aggressively or threatened to bite him.
“They barked at him, at first, but stopped after coming over to smell him.”
He said the AVU personnel strongly suspected that they had been domesticated, and were not “anjing liar” (wild dogs), from their behaviour.
These officers eventually discovered that two of the number belonged to one homeowner in the area, while the third was reared by another, according to him.
“We managed to identify these individuals with the help of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which has been working together with the Council to look after the well-being of animals around Penampang.”
The spokesman said the AVU would periodically monitor the goings-on in the neighbourhood to ensure that the dog-owners fulfilled the agency’s instructions.
Meanwhile, City Hall’s Animal Control Division (ACD) has been mobilised to do the same in a Luyang neighbourhood, after someone living there voiced their displeasure about the commotion caused by a pack of canines.
A spokeswoman for the agency’s Health and Environment Department, under which the ACD falls, said it failed to find any strays on the housing roads there.
“ACD personnel armed with nets went on foot around the common areas,” she said.
“One of our open trucks was deployed to facilitate in this effort.”
Despite coming back empty-handed, she the ACD would make random inspections of the neighbourhood to ensure that the public were not unduly troubled by any canines there.
The spokeswoman reminded dog-owners around Kota Kinabalu to ensure that their pets were kept inside their compound.
“The ACD team is authorised to catch any canines found roaming about by themselves.
“Those wearing a tag will be impounded, with their owners given a grace-period to claim them.”
She said rate-payers would have to settle a compound of up to RM500, before their pets would be returned to them.
MELANIE and her family have not been getting a good night’s rest because of the noise from the barking dogs in the Luyang area where she lives.
She suspected that the din was triggered by a pack of strays which she had seen on the housing roads.
“There are about 10 canines which I have seen roaming about around my neighbourhood,” she said.
“If one of them starts to howl in the wee hours then every other pet in the vicinity will also start howling.
“The same thing happens if they bark at another dog inside any of the homes here.”
Melanie said the sound of the barking became louder and more intrusive the later it got.
“This is especially so when the ambient noise from our surroundings dies down after midnight.
The racket which ensues wakes you up and makes it difficult to fall back asleep again.”
She claimed that some of the pack also growled at the garbage collectors who came to the neighbourhood.
“Now, I look left and right to see if any of the dogs are around before taking out the rubbish to my bin.
“I am afraid that they might come after me.”
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