THE Penampang and Kuala Penyu District Councils are monitoring the goings-on along Lorong Hiburan and around the latter town, following feedback about the nuisance created by packs of strays in these respective areas.
A Taman Rodamas rate-payer spoke out about the five or six dogs that had been chasing passers-by on the road outside his house over the past few months.
Another group of canines, on the other hand, recently left the patron of a Kuala Penyu eatery ill at ease. The strays apparently approached the tables outside the premises in the hopes of getting scraps from customers – like himself – who were sitting there.
Both individuals provided Hotline with the pertinent details pertaining to their canine encounters. This information was forwarded to the relevant agencies.
Officers with the Council’s Health Section inspecting Lorong Hiburan in Penampang.
A Penampang District Council (PDC) spokesman said personnel with its Health Section went to Taman Rodamas on the same day that it was contacted by the media.
“No strays were spotted roaming about on the housing roads that morning and none of the public, whom our staff met, owned up to having any dogs,” he said.
He said another inspection was carried out at night four days later.
The Council’s staff succeeded in identifying one home where three canines were being reared in that instance, according to him.
“The dogs approached these personnel but did not behave aggressively or threaten to bite them.
“The canines were inside the compound but our inspectors noticed that the front gates were wide open.”
The spokesman said the dog-owner was asked to keep the gates closed so that his pets did not inadvertently run out onto the housing road.
“He was also instructed to reduce the number of dogs in his keeping as he was only permitted to have two of these pets at most. Our staff impressed on him the need to have his canines licensed and taken for a veterinary check-up.”
The rate-payer apparently assured PDC staff that his pets were vaccinated annually at the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS).
“He told our personnel that he had taken to keeping dogs as a means of guarding his home against break-ins,” the spokesman said.
“Some of the other units in the neighbourhood had already been burgled. The bad hats carted off a washing machines during one such burglary.”
He said the homeowner was a given a grace-period in which to meet the agency’s requirements.
PDC inspectors have a word with this homeowner, while one of his dogs comes up to see what is happening.
“A follow-inspection will be made after this. He risks being compounded up to RM500, under the District Council’s Registration and Control of Dogs By-laws 1987, if we find that our instructions have fallen on deaf ears.”
The spokesman said its dog-catchers would make periodic inspections of the Taman Rodamas to ensure that the public were not unduly troubled by any canines there.
“Our staff are authorised to catch any dogs found roaming about by themselves. “Those wearing a tag will be held in our keeping, with their owners given a grace-period to claim them.”
The spokesman said rate-payers would have to settle a compound before their pets could be returned to them.
Meanwhile, the Kuala Penyu District Council (KPDC) will mount a joint-operation with the DVS to deal with the strays in the town.
A KPDC spokesman said the agency’s personnel went around the shops there regularly to try and catch any canines wandering around these premises.
“Any strays which are caught are dealt with accordingly,” he said.
“A dog-catching excise was most recently conducted just before the Harvest Festival public holidays.”
A total of 10 canines were apprehended during this clampdown, according to him.
The spokesman said the task of tackling the nuisance posed by the strays at times proved challenging for the Council.
“The dogs come into Kuala Penyu from the surrounding villages.
They have a penchant for roaming around the stalls in the Monsoi area.
“We hope to get a better handle on this situation with the help of our peers from the Department.”
