The Suva City Council has acknowledged that there has been an increase in complaints from residents about stray animals.

Senior Health Inspector Wally Atalifo, speaking at a recent community meeting stated that the council is working with relevant ministries to tackle this issue.

Atalifo has given assurance of SCC’s cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture to address stray dog concerns.

He explained that the council initiates dog trapping exercises upon directives from the Ministry of Agriculture.

“For stray dogs, what the residents normally think, Suva city council are in charge of the control of Stray dogs, the dog’s act which was enacted a long time ago is enforced by the Ministry of Agriculture”

He also emphasized the humane approach taken during dog trapping exercises.

“What we do at city council is try and do dog trapping just to control the dog population and our dog trapping is dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture and SPCA if they have space in their compound then we can do the trapping and again if we do trapping we can’t be cruel to animals.”

The senior inspector reminds the ratepayers that they do not have the power to direct people to keep a certain amount of animals in their compound.

However, Atalifo says that the Council is going to review its bylaws to try to address such issues effectively.