Copperbelt Province  Permanent Secretary Bright Nundwe has directed all local authorities to kill stray dogs in all the 10 districts to curb dog bites in the province. Mr Nundwe said cases of dog bites, typhoid, measles and dysentery are still rife in the province. “We can’t allow dogs roaming streets.

This is very serious. May I direct all the councils to shoot every single dog that is not registered, rabid and roaming around immediately,” he said. Mr Nundwe was speaking at the second provincial epidemic preparedness meeting in Ndola yesterday. He urged residents to limited ownership of dogs to two and to confine these as required by law.

“If you drive around Ndola, Kitwe, Mufulira and Chingola, the scenario is dogs all over,” Mr Nundwe said. He urged residents not to keep dogs if they don’t have capacity to feed them. “Let us respect the lives of people. If you don’t have capacity to keep and feed the dog, kill it,” he said. Provincial veterinary officer Japhet Nyekele said Chingola recorded 390 cases of dog bites and of these, 244 cases were reported at veterinary clinics during the first quarter of this year.

Dr Nyekele said there is an increasing number of unregistered stray dogs in the province and unreported dog bites. Meanwhile, Chililabombwe acting district health director J o s e p h H a c h i m e n e s a i d congestion of thousands of trucks at Kasumbalesa border had increased health and road traffic risks. He said the risk has reduced because now 800 trucks are being cleared every day. Mr Hachimene said traffic congestion came about because of construction works being undertaken on Democratic Republic of Congo side of the border.