Traps set up to catch stray dogs in Penampang
Published on: Wednesday, July 24, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
The Council’s Health staff place the cage on a pavement along Lorong Hiburan.
THE Penampang Municipal Council has placed traps at strategic locations along Lorong Hiburan and Lorong Bundusan in a bid to nab the strays which have been spotted on sections of these roads.
This action follows feedback about the nuisance created by packs of dogs wandering around Taman Rodamas and in Beverly Hills Plaza.
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A home-owner at the former was twice chased by canines while taking an evening stroll, while the patron of an eatery at the latter was left ill at ease by the number of dogs which approached the table where she was sitting.
Both individuals provided Hotline with the pertinent details pertaining to their canine encounters. This information was forwarded to the relevant agencies.
A Council spokesman said personnel with its Health Section went to Taman Rodamas and Beverly Hills earlier this week, shortly after being contacted by the media.
“No strays were spotted roaming about in the common areas at both locations,” he said,
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“None of the public, whom our staff met in the housing area, owned up to having any dogs.
A cage was set up on the road behind this coffeeshop at the Beverly Hills Plaza.
“The coffeeshop staff, on the other hand, admitted that several canines had been roaming about on the pavement outside and around the carpark at the back of the block where the premises was based.”
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From time to time, the Council’s staff was told, one of the attendants would go out onto the five-foot-way to chase away the strays.
“Owing to these developments, our personnel set up a cage in one part of the carpark and on a pavement in the neighbourhood.
“Pamphlets, on our guidelines as regards the rearing of dogs, were also left in post boxes for homes in the housing area.”
The spokesman explained that the inspection of Taman Rodamas on Monday was one of several such checks which had been made since the beginning of the year.
Two inspections were made last month, according to the spokesman, during which the Council’s staff succeeded in identifying one home where three canines were being reared, 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.
Pamphlets on the Council’s dog-rearing guidelines were placed in post boxes of homes in the neighbourhood.
“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 the Council’s staff that his pets were vaccinated annually at the Department of Veterinary Services.
“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 machine during one such burglary.”
In March, another home-owner was also asked whether he was feeding the strays, after someone in the neighbourhood saw the animals entering his compound.
“He told our personnel that he only looked after his own pets,” he said.
“The rate-payer was informed of our two-dog limit, as well as our requirement to have these canines registered with us.”
On top of this, he said, the individual was instructed to ensure that his pets did not become a public nuisance.
“He was told to accompany his dogs if he released them onto the housing road and to have them leashed up.
“We also asked him to step in when his pets started barking so that this noise did not continue nonstop and disturb his neighbours.”
The spokesman said its dog-catchers would make periodic inspections of the Taman Rodamas and Beverly Hills Plaza to ensure that the public were not unduly troubled by any canines there.
The Council’s staff didn’t find any strays roaming about this carpark at the Plaza.
“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, under the Council’s Registration and Control of Dogs By-laws 1987, before their pets could be returned to them.
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