Alarm as stray dogs terrorise Bushenyi residents

Residents of Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality have cried out to the authorities to save them from stray dogs, which they say have become a major threat to their lives.

Several residents of the municipality have complained about being attacked by dogs that move in a group of 5 to 10, which puts them at a risk of getting infected with rabies.

Mr Muhammad Kyoota, a resident of Ruhandagazi Cell, Central division said the dogs not only attack people but also kill domestic animals.

"I was coming from my work station in Bushenyi town on Monday evening going home when three dogs attacked me and after the incident I went to Kyeizooba farmers Clinic for treatment where I stayed for a night and I reported the case to police," he said.

Mr Kyoota said he spent three days without working because he was treating the wounds inflicted on him by the dogs. He has appealed to the Municipal leadership to act before the whole area was attacked.

"Our lives are in danger because we are not sure whether these dogs are vaccinated. We are at a risk of getting rabies, which can be life threatening. We call upon the authorities to either kill them or vaccinate them,” he said.

Mr Nazario Bamwesigye, a resident of Tank Hill, Central Division and a special hire driver in Bushenyi town, said they are living in fear and residents have resorted to moving in groups to avoid being attacked by the dogs.

“I was rushed to Kyabugimbi Care clinic for treatment after I was attacked by the stray dogs last Tuesday and there was no medicine,” he said.

The Municipality animal husbandry officer, Mr Moses Bugyendo, said his office had received some complaints about residents being attacked by the ‘wild’ dogs.

 "As I talk we have received about eight cases of people attacked and injured by dogs in a space of three weeks, and it’s an issue we must look into," he said.

 He revealed that they are in the process of acquiring poison from a government laboratory in Entebbe to kill all stray dogs.

“Before we can kill them, we shall inform people so that dog owners can chain their dogs. This will be done to avoid complaints at the end of the day,” he said. 

A total of 807 stray dogs have so far been killed in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality since 2019. In the 2020/2021 Financial Year, 750 dogs in three divisions of Central, Ishaka and Nyakabirizi, were vaccinated.

According to the World Health Organisation, 59,000 people die daily of rabies in over 15o countries worldwide, with 95 per cent in Africa.

Rabies, according to the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) website, is a deadly virus spread to people from saliva of infected animals. The rabies virus is usually transmitted through a bite and it has symptoms such as fever, headache, and excess salivation. The disease is 100 percent preventable.