By EDDIE OSIFELO
HONIARA City Council needs more manpower to deal with stray dogs in the city.
This after HCC has only engaged one officer dealing with stray dogs roaming the city, causing nuisance, removing rubbishes from beans and spilling them on to the streets and posing health risks to people as well.
HCC legal officer, Paul Inifiri told media last Friday there is an ordinance exist to deal with stray dogs but lack of manpower to enforce it.
He said HCC is looking at amending the ordinance to allow owners to put belts around their dogs and keep only one as their pet.
Inifiri said to keep a dog, you need to pay a license of $50 for one year at HCC.
Furthermore, Secretary to Prime Minister, Dr Jimmy Rodgers said dogs are supposed to live within the compound of areas.
He said it is not only about paying the license but to keep your dog within the area.
According to Sunday Isles, during the past years, HCC through its Environmental Health Division established a ‘Dog Control Services’ a simple baseline program through irregularly trapping and destroying unowned dogs – to manage the stray dog population in Honiara.
However, according to HCC, the baseline program has not been effective and the Council has been looking at other ways, especially regarding population management – to reduce the stray dog population in Honiara.
Currently, there are no animal welfare organizations in the country that focuses on animal welfare and education.
A Honiara (Dogs) By-Law (the Honiara Dogs Ordinance), was created in June 1965 to legalize the possession of keeping a dog no less than six months old within the Honiara City.
The ‘Honiara (Dogs) Ordinance’ which was passed on the 22nd June 1965 and was gazetted under Legal Notice 108 of 1965 (with further amendments done on the 5th February 2010 and 23rd March 2010) stated that the Council shall impound any dog found without a disc or wondering at large in circumstances in which it constitutes a nuisance or danger to the public or any person.’
It was stated in the ‘Honiara (Dogs) Ordinance’ that any person who without lawful authority or lawful excuse releases or injures or attempts to release or injure any dog detained by the Council shall be guilty of an offense and liable to be charged in the Magistrates Court in relations to the offense.
