THE Animal Control Unit under the Honiara City Council (HCC) Waste Management Control Division (WMCD) has initiated a dog eradication operation aimed at addressing the escalating population of stray dogs in the city.
The operation, which has started last week, is designed to mitigate risks to public health and safety posed by the growing number of abandoned and stray dogs in Honiara streets.
According to Lavery Jacob from WMCD, the HCC Dog Eradication Team is urging residents to become actively involved in the initiative to manage the stray dog population in the city.
Mr Jacob said the eradication operation is underway and so the HCC Animal Control Team calls on the public to work together with HCC to address the issue of stray dogs within the Honiara City boundary.
‘’Yeah, so currently the operation is done at nights mainly in the streets. A huge number of stray dogs were trapped since the we launched the operation last week.
“The growing number of stray dogs pose not only a public nuisance, but also potential health hazards, including the risk of spreading diseases.”
Mr Jacob said the eradication operation will also be rolled out to residential areas soon and HCC is looking forward to working with communities, especially youths, during operation rollout.
He said community members are encouraged to report sightings of stray dogs to the Animal Control Team, which will conduct trapping and sterilisation measures, before moving forward with the actual eradication.
‘’The operation will soon pick up momentum and will be rolled out to the residential areas. We understand there are many emotions around this topic and we want to work together with the community to ensure a humane and sustainable approach,” Mr Jacob added.
By JIMMY NOLAN
Solomon Star, Honiara
