•70 out of 85 county wards are hotspots for stray dogs
•Every year more than 6,000 cases of dog bites and injuries are reported in Nairobi
Image: FILE
Nairobi county will spend Sh100 million to kill stray dogs in the next one year.
County Director of Veterinary Services Dr Muriithi Muhari said there were more than 50,000 stray dogs every year in the city.
The dogs, he noted, caused disturbance to various business activities, interrupted people attending medical centres, markets and bit school going children and caused road accidents.
The city, he said, was grappling with an influx of stray dogs, adding that 70 out of 85 county wards were hotspots.
Muriithi said they will "humanely" kill all stray dogs using a shot gun similar to the one used on cows so that the canines do not suffer.
“Shooting to kill stray dogs was even recommended by the World Health Organisation,” said Dr Muriithi.
The Sh100 million that will be mobilised, he explained, will finance purchase of shot guns, expand facilities for the animal accommodation, burial sites and incineration facilities.
Dr Muriithi, who spoke during a media breakfast organised by World Animal Protection at a Nairobi hotel, noted that every year more than 6,000 cases of dog bites and injuries are reported.
Between last year and this year, five cases of rabies deaths were reported.
Currently, there is a shift in animal protection through the Nairobi County Dog Control and Welfare Act of 2015 whose whose provisions are being enforced.
Muriithi said that they are carrying out a campaign together with the World Animal Protection to enlighten the public of the act.
“We have laws that allow people to keep animals provided they are in the good environment, their health and welfare is taken care of," he said.
According to Dr Emily Mudoga from the World Animal Welfare, in the recent past, Nairobians with dogs have been violating the laws by releasing their dogs freely.
Dr Mudoga said the study, which was based on Karen, Kibera and Kawangware, areas found that 50 per cent of the people who own dogs let their dogs stray especially at night.
“We need to come together and rethink together with government and private veterinarian on how we can bring solutions on the dog menace especially in Nairobi," she said.