Sunday, October 5, 2008

Citizens cry over high dog population

The District Environmental Health Officer for Tain, Mr. R.E. Appiah Sam, has raised concerns over the growing number of dogs at Nsawkaw, the district capital, describing it as a threat to good environmental sanitation.

In an interview with The Mirror at Nsawkaw, Mr Appiah-Sam expressed concern about how these dogs defecate on the streets, thereby causing an unhealthy scene for the inhabitants.

"Our staff who sweep the streets every morning suffer so much because the dogs always defecate at clean and dry places," he stated.

He, therefore, appealed to the Tain District Assembly to enact bye-laws to limit the number of dogs expected to be kept per household.

When contacted, the District Veterinary Officer, Mr. Alfred Dery also shared similar sentiments and called for legislation against the control of the population of dogs in the district.

Mr. Dery expressed concern about the reluctance of dog owners to avail their dogs for anti-rabbis vaccination.

“Out of over 200 dogs at Nsawkaw, only 30 have been brought for vaccination," he lamented.

When The Mirror tried to find out why people kept large numbers of dogs at Nsawkaw and the Banda areas, it was revealed that various households kept them for economic reasons.

Apart from offering security, dogs kept in the district are highly demanded during the dry season for hunting purposes.

Similarly, the growing number of settlers from northern Ghana in the district has also accounted for the demand for dog meat.

The Source: The Mirror