Dog registration is a legal requirement Ndola City Council (NCC) through the Department of Environment, Community and Health Services has embarked on a dog registration exercise to rid the Copperbelt Provincial capital of stray dogs.
In an interview with the Lusaka Star, NCC Public Relations Officer, Louise Maonde said the exercise is being carried out as council’s response to the numerous complaints from Ndola residents about stray dogs.
Ms Maonde said it is a legal requirement under the Control of Dogs Act Cap 247 of the Laws of Zambia, for dog owners to register them with the local authorities.
She added that this exercise is important because it will help the City Council to control the stray dogs and it will act as a preventive measure to a would be outbreak of rabies in the city.
“As Council we hope that this exercise will force dog owners that are careless with their pets to start securing them because complaints from residents have proved that stray dogs are a nuisance to passer-by’s in the early hours of the morning and late at night,” Ms Maonde said.
And Public Health Officer, Juliet Banda, said the exercise which commenced in October 2012, has so far received positive response from the low density populated areas of the city.
“We are still carrying out sensitization exercises to emphasize the importance of dog registration in high density populated areas of the city as most people do not understand its importance hence the negative response from some townships around the city” Mrs Banda said.
She said according to Cap 247 of the Laws of Zambia, each household is only allowed two dogs but the Public Health Office is registering up to five dogs for one household if the owner can afford to properly care for the dogs.
“Each household is only allowed two dogs and a fixed charge of Kr45 is required as payment of registration for each dog but if one is registering more than two dogs the requirement for the extra number of dogs to be registered is Kr 60 each,” she said.
She added that after registration is completed the dog is given an NCC tag which has a number issued according to registration specifics of the dog.
“People should understand that dog registration is a legal requirement and not a money making venture for NCC,” Mrs Banda said.
She disclosed that NCC has purchased 100 bullets for phase one of the shooting stray dogs exercise which will commence in mid- April 2013.
Mrs Banda has since urged dog owners in Ndola to have their dogs registered as soon as possible to avoid conflict with the City Council when the shooting exercise commences.
Since the commencement of the dog registration exercise in October 2012, more than 901 dogs have been registered.