Stray dogs pose danger to Arusha residents

ARUSHA: STREETS in Arusha City are full of straying dogs and residents are scared, saying that the community is at risk of contracting rabies viruses.

Most of the residents who were interviewed by the ‘Daily News’ called for relevant authorities to take immediate action to address the situation.

“We really fear for our lives, especially our children. There are so many stray dogs roaming around our streets,” a resident of Msasani Street in Murieti Ward, Filomena Mahenge said.

“These dogs are dangerous because they sometimes bite people. It is hard for us because a dog bite requires a victim to get a series of shots to prevent the infection from taking hold, which is an expensive undertaking. … It is good for the government to take measures to control them,” she lamented.

Rabies is a preventable viral disease most often transmitted through the bite of rabid animals including dogs. The rabies virus affects the central nervous system of humans, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death.

According to ‘Daily News’ survey, roaming dogs were witnessed in Arusha CBD, Majengo, Mianzini, Sakina, Morombo, Ngateu, Soweto and other parts of Arusha city. Another resident, Juliana Jacob, from Njiro Ndogo Street said the government should eliminate dogs from the streets in order to make people safe.

“Treatment for dog bites is expensive, putting poor people in danger of losing their lives for not being able to afford the costs of treatment,” said Juliana.

Also, Donath Mboya, Mita 200 Street Chairperson in Kaloleni Ward, said the swarming of dogs is caused by the presence of unregulated slaughterhouses and careless disposal of food leftovers as well as pile of wastes in Arusha City.

On his part, Arusha Regional Veterinary, Dr Sabas Shange told this paper that the operation to eliminate stray dogs from the streets was ongoing.

“It is true that we are aware of the problem and here in Arusha the operation is ongoing. We received information of dog biting challenge at Soweto area. We already met with local leaders to see how to deal with it and the campaign to eliminate stray dogs is ongoing,” he said.

Also, Arusha City Council Veterinary Officer Dr Onesmo Mandike said the residents should not be afraid because the authority has already carried out a mass vaccination operation for dogs in the city. Dr Mandike said at the moment there was no any report of rabies in the city.

He also added that in the city of Arusha, every street has a veterinary officer, so whenever a challenge arises, the officers get down to business immediately.In addition, he asked the residents to refrain from provoking the roaming dogs in the street in order to be safe.