AfricaPress-Tanzania: PEOPLE who keep dogs have been warned to keep them indoors or else legal action will be taken against them.
Babati District Senior Livestock Senior veterinarian, Dr Godfrey Kayombo, said dogs were not supposed to wander around the streets because of the risks they posed to human beings, such as biting and causing diseases.
He said the government did not like to kill dogs, but it compelled owners to keep them as provided for by the law and it was due to the laxity of owners who did not look after them properly, but left them wander around.
He said that as of now, there were many dogs left to wander around the streets.
“There are many dogs wandering around the streets now. Yet, they are the same people who ask the number of dogs to be reduced, but when we kill them, they start complaining.
The law does not allow the animals to be left to wander around, but keep them indoors,” stressed Dr Kayombo.
He noted that if the government decided to kill dogs it was because owners had failed to take care of them.
He dismissed what some people had been saying that those who killed the dogs were cursed, saying if there was anything at all, it would go to those who failed to take care of their dogs.
He said they had all along been raising public awareness on how to take care of dogs and that they should be kept indoors to avoid going out and they should be fed and vaccinated from time to time as advised by specialists.
Dr Kayombo said 98 per cent of people who kept dogs did so for security purposes.
He said there were many dogs around because they were left without proper care and gave birth to puppies – up to eight, hence they often multiplied.
