Khaberni - Animal Welfare Society: We call for an end to the methods of killing and poisoning in addressing the issue of stray dogs.
The "Care" association for animal and environment welfare sees, on Wednesday, that dealing with the stray dogs issue does not require huge budgets, confirming that humane and scientific solutions are available at "reasonable" costs and are executable.
The association called in a press release to stop the methods of killing and poisoning as they are ineffective.
The Ministry of Local Administration confirmed earlier that shooting and poisoning stray dogs are legally prohibited.
The association mentioned that the cost of sterilization does not exceed 15 dinars per animal, while the cost of a single vaccine dose is 3 dinars, given twice a year, in addition to identification chips that do not exceed one dinar per animal annually.
It clarified that these measures, alongside low operating costs, represent a low-cost investment in public health and community safety.
The association confirmed that implementing sterilization and vaccination programs is possible through partnerships between municipalities, veterinary associations, and civil society, with contributions from volunteers and the private sector.
A child was attacked by stray dogs in the Rumtha district on Sunday evening, resulting in deep wounds to his leg and thigh. He was subsequently transported to the Rumtha Government Hospital for treatment.
Irbid Greater Municipality revealed that the cost of sheltering one dog, starting from capturing it and transporting it to the shelter, providing its food, and performing the sterilization procedure then releasing it, amounts to about 100 dinars, amid estimates indicating the existence of about 100,000 stray dogs in the province.
Asma Al-Ghazawi, the Environment Advisor at the Ministry of Local Administration, said earlier to "Al-Mamlaka" that the problem of stray dogs is widespread across all areas of the kingdom, but municipalities are experiencing very severe financial difficulties, preventing them from building centers to deal with them.
Al-Ghazawi explained that there are provisions in the law that prohibit killing or poisoning dogs and encourage dealing with them in a better way, namely centers and clinics for sterilizing dogs, giving them rabies vaccines and antibiotics, then returning them to the area they were taken from.
She estimated that the construction costs for one center to combat stray dogs for 4 municipalities reach 150,000 dinars, in addition to 25,000 dinars a month as operational costs.
She said that the estimated cost of establishing one center at the level of the province reaches half a million dinars, excluding operational costs.
She confirmed that the municipalities cannot afford the costs of establishing such centers due to their weak budgets, noting that the lack of funding prevented the municipalities of Dhilail, Hallabat, and Khalidiya from continuing, and the municipalities' budgets were not sufficient to continue the operation of the clinic, so the work did not continue despite the ministry's support of the project.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Al-Hawarat, the director of epidemic diseases at the Ministry of Health, said earlier to "Al-Mamlaka" that 5605 cases of bites have been registered since the beginning of the current year, most of them from dogs with 60-70%, while 9401 cases of bites were registered in 2024.
He added that approximately 4-5 million dinars are allocated annually from the ministry's budget to provide a serum for treating dog bites.
Al-Hawarat reported that two deaths from dog bites have occurred since the beginning of the current year.
