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The MARD has approved a plan to control and eliminate rabies. Accordingly, those who raise dogs and cats will have to register with commune and ward-level authorities to get a pet code. The local veterinary agencies will have to monitor the number of dogs and cats in their districts and provinces. Commune-level veterinary stations will have to make statistics on the number of dogs, cats and the owners of dogs and cats in their communes.
The People's Committees at all levels will establish specialized teams to capture wandering dogs and cats in urban areas, populated areas or dogs and cats that are suspected of being rabid. Veterinary stations will take care of captured dogs and cats. After three days, if no one comes to take the pets, they will be killed.
The plan also specifies the target as 80 percent of the dogs are under management and get vaccinations; deaths due to rabies down by 30 percent from 2011, etc. Most of the contents in this plan were mentioned in a document issued by the MARD in 2009.
However, as well as three years ago, the above provisions received mixed reactions from people. Some people agreed with the new regulations, reasoning that dogs and cats should also have "identity cards."
Meanwhile, many others proved embarrassing and that the new regulations are annoying and impractical. They said that it is very difficult to implement the provisions because the authorities cannot control of the large amount of dogs and cats. In fact, most people still do not know about the regulations on registration of dogs and cats.
Mr. Do Van My, deputy head in charge of hygiene, safety and order of Group 3, Nghia Tan Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, said: "I think this regulation is unnecessary because each year dogs and cats are vaccinated once and certificated. Families that do not vaccinate pets are fine."
Previously, My’s family had four cats. After vaccination, two left, so he had to lock up the remaining two cats in a cage.
Ms. Vu Thi Xuan, from Dich Vong Hau Ward, Cau Giay district, said it is uneasy to control the number of dogs and cats in the area. In addition to a number of households raising dogs and cats as pets, there are many families breeding dozens of dogs and cats for business.
"If we register dogs and cats today and they die or are stolen the next day, we will have to go to the People’s Committee to declare their death?" Xuan questioned.
She added that the cumbersome administrative procedures will urge many people to not register their dogs and cats. "Moreover, cats and dogs are considered as food in Vietnam, so the management of dogs and cats is very difficult. The regulations can be applied in urban areas but how about the rural areas? In other countries, they have specialized departments to protect dogs and cats, but in Vietnam, it is impossible to do so,” she said.
Mr. Duong Dang Thanh, head of Group 3, Van Giap Village, Thuong Tin District, Hanoi said the regulations should be applied in the urban areas only. He said in his village, dogs and cats are often stolen. It is difficult to persuade locals to vaccinate pets, not to mention to pet registration.
According to a veterinarian, the new decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is to continue the implementation of the objectives of raising awareness of the people and the quality of the supervisory veterinary authorities at all levels of rabies, not a legal document. The decision, thus, also does not prescribe sanctions, such as a fine on the pet owners who are in the absence of registration.
Compiled by P. Linh
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