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Walter Mswazie, Masvingo Correspondent
MASVINGO City Council has embarked on an exercise to shoot stray dogs to curb the spread of rabies.

The city’s Town Clerk Mr Adolf Gusha said the seven-day programme started on Monday.

He urged dog owners to produce dog licences and vaccination certificates to a team of inspectors who are moving around asking for such documents.

Mr Gusha advised all dog owners to keep their pets, including cats, indoors.

“We started a dog tie-up and shoot order exercise on Monday where our personnel in conjunction with SPCA and the department of veterinary services are shooting stray dogs and cats,” said Mr Gusha.

Recently, the director of Disease Prevention and Epidemiology in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Portia Manangazira said since the beginning of the year, a total of 8 753 people have been bitten by dogs.

She said more than half of the dogs were either not vaccinated or their vaccination status were not known.

According to the Department of Veterinary Services, rabies could be eliminated completely if 70 percent of the dog population is constantly vaccinated.

Rabies is a highly fatal viral infection of the nervous system.

Once the symptoms of rabies develop in animals or human, there is no cure and the disease is fatal. Rabies kills 50 000 people worldwide every year. — @walterbmswazie2