Six ‘killer rabid’ dogs shot

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
THE Department of Veterinary Services has put down six dogs suspected to be rabid in Makwe area after they attacked and killed goats.

This comes as authorities are still battling with the mystery of an unknown blood-sucking creature that has been killing livestock in the area.

Authorities from Gwanda Rural District Council, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) and Department of Veterinary Services have combined efforts to jointly identify the animal which is killing goats by biting their throats and sucking blood in Makwe area, Ward 8 in Gwanda.

The killer beast does not eat the flesh of the dead goats.

About 80 goats have been killed by the unknown beast since the beginning of last month.

In an interview Matabeleland South provincial veterinary officer, Dr Enat Mdlongwa said six dogs belonging to a villager from the area were gunned down on Saturday last week. He said since then they had not received any reports on goats being killed.

“We received a report from villagers on dogs that were killing goats in Makwe area at night. Our officers went there and shot six dogs. We took samples for testing and we are awaiting results to ascertain whether they are rabid or not. Since those dogs were shot we haven’t received any report on more goats being killed. We can’t ascertain for now whether the problem has been solved but only time will tell,” he said.

ZimParks national spokesperson, Mr Tinashe Farawo said they were still conducting investigations to identify the animal which was killing the goats. He said the visit which was conducted by officers last week did not yield any results as the carcasses were too deteriorated to produce conclusive results. — @DubeMatutu