GCC to licence dogs
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday October 18, 2017 13:56
The consultation started this week and the new draft amendments will be discussed at the coming full council meeting. The dog bye-law was formulated on April 6, 1968 and the council feels that it is outdated as it does not cater for certain things. If councillors approve the new amendments, then one needs to have the licence within six months of implementation.
“The old law was done when most people were staying in the villages, but a lot of things have since changed. The old law required that the dog must have a licence, but we found that there were no specifics on it for one to have a certificate and forms to apply for licence. The new draft amendments provide for such,” chief bye-law officer, Mokate Rapalai said yesterday in an interview.
In addition, Rapalai said they are consulting as per requirement of Section 44 (1) of the Local Government Act. He said the new draft amendment focuses on dogs only and there will be three types of licences; the ordinary licence, which is applied for with P100 breeding licence, P500 for commercial purpose fee and P600 for guard. Rapalai said if one does not abide by the required standard, then he/she could be fined not less than P200, and not exceeding P1,000 or to imprisonment not exceeding three months or both. He said one will be required to have two dogs and if you want to increase them, then one will have to apply for another licence.
“The committee, which dogs falls under, will conduct an investigation first for another licence to be given. Again, a licence is not going to be issued before the committee is satisfied that one meets the required standard of keeping of dogs. That includes adequate shelter, food and water, boundary wall and at the gate it should be written “beware of dogs or tshaba ntsa”.
Again during licensing, the dog will have microchip which is its own ID, which has all contacts and details of the owner,” he said.
Rapalai said the owner will be easily traced if his/her dog is found roaming in the street or public area and the owner will be fined for that.