SIBU: The people here are urged to stay away from stray dogs as incidents of dog bite cases are still prevalent.
Chairman of Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) Clarence Ting also advised the people to keep their pets within their house compound.
“There are rabid dogs in Sibu. I am asking all residents to be careful when they see loose dogs. They could be rabid,” he said.
Ting cautioned that those who let their dogs out in the public area could result in their animals contracting rabies and bringing the disease home.
On public requests for the council to catch stray dogs, he said SMC was currently short-handed in its dog catching team.
He said the council was mulling the idea of increasing its dog unit and might even have to contract out the job to independent contractors.
“SMC is overwhelmed by requests to catch dogs on the street. We have only 5 dog catchers. In April they caught 141 dogs and in May caught only 59,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, had said the number of dog bite cases in Sibu was still high; averagely 35 per cent of the monthly dog bite notifications received by Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) Sarawak.
The latest case involved a five-year-old child who was bitten by his pet dog on May 24 at Taman Sanhill Barat.
Uggah, who is also chairman of the state disaster management committee, said test results on May 27 showed that the dog was rabies positive.
He said that the dog’s bite sample had also been sent to the Sarawak Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to be tested via Direct Fluorescent Antibody Technique.
Sarawak Health Department director Dr Chin Zin Hing meanwhile said that the child had been given the necessary treatment and vaccine and was under observation.
Areas statewide which had been declared as rabies-infected included Kuching with seven areas, Sri Aman, Sarikei and Mukah with five each, Sibu (two), Miri (six), Kapit (one), Bintulu (four), Samarahan (four), Betong (three) and Serian with the most areas at 22.
