Some fifty thousand fifteen dogs and cats from the city’s 168 were successfully vaccinated against the dreaded rabies by the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) during the year-round implementation of the government’s anti-rabies vaccination.
City Veterinarian Dr. Brigit Piok reported that last year, the CVAO achieve a 125-percent accomplishment in the implementation of the anti-rabies vaccination compared to the number of dogs and cats vaccinated by the city government the preceding year.
Additionally, the CVAO intensified the city government’s campaign against stray animals to control the hazards posed by these animals to the public and environment.
Based on the data from the CVAO, some 3,027 stray animals, mostly dogs and cats, were impound by personnel of the said office during the year-round campaign.
Of the number of impounded stray animals, Piok reported that 559 dogs and cats were neutered pursuant to existing ordinances after the same were not claimed by the rightful owners.
Last week, the city legislative body approved on third and final reading a proposed ordinance that seeks to codify existing ordinances on dogs and stray animals that introduced a number of amendments to the Responsible Pet Ownership Ordinance of the city that was previously crafted for the said purpose.
The city veterinarian expressed her gratitude to the members of the city council for passing the codification of existing ordinances governing dogs and stray animals as this will help the city document the actual number of dogs and cats and to ensure that owners are able to have their pets vaccinated to prevent them from being the source of rabies.
Salient provisions of the aforesaid ordinance are the requirement for residents to register their pets and for the city government to issue the required micro-chips or dog tags of the registered dogs to ensure the immediate identification of the owners once the same will become stray in their respective barangays.
Once registered, owners of the dogs will be issued a certificate indicating, among others, the name of the dog, the owner, breed, address among others for easy identification, especially when the same gets lost.
The amendments to the Responsible Pet Ownership Ordinance will take effect once Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong signs the same and will be published in a local newspaper of general circulation after which the CVAO will be required to intensify the registration of pets in the city’s barangays which will be the city government’s database on the dog and cat population in the city. By Dexter A. See
