Selma Ikela
Windhoek
Chief of the City Police Abraham Kanime said they will soon embark on an operation targeting unlicensed and unvaccinated dogs, including ones that roam the streets.
Although Kanime couldn’t reveal the date the operation would begin he said it would be conducted similarly to the one targeting car washes.
“We are busy formulating the operation. Firstly, we need to inform the public, secondly, we need to design the tactical approach and lastly we need to consult stakeholders like in this case the SPCA,” said Kanime.
Kanime said each case would be treated on its own merits. “In various approaches we will put together we will educate people that they shouldn’t just have a dog that is roaming around. And we will make sure the dogs are vaccinated and licensed,” said Kanime.
Kanime said that if one has an unlicensed dog action would be taken. “There is action prescribed by the law – a person will be fined or even arrested depending on the degree of the offence. Also, if your dog is a dangerous one and despite you having been warned on the requirements you needed to comply with, but you didn’t, the law will take its course,” said Kanime.
He said they need to conduct a proper detailed campaign as they did with car washes. “People should be informed that even from today onwards we will not allow your dog to be on the streets,” Kanime said, adding that they will also embark on operations targeting shebeens, land invasion and illegal trading.
Last week the City Police impounded a dog that bit a three-year-old girl Mweneni du Plessis in Shandumbala. two other dogs were removed from the same household.
Du Plessis was bitten while in the company of her aunt, Estella Shimoneni, as they walked along Hans Dietrich Genscher Street in Shandumbala on Thursday morning. Du Plessis died in Katutura hospital where she was treated after she was bitten by the dog.
According to City Police spokesperson Fabian Amukwelele they got information that the dog that bit Du Plessis “always bit people” and not long ago two other women were bitten by the same dog.
“All these people were bitten in the streets despite rules that stipulate owners should keep their dogs in the yard.”