The dogs, numbering about 100, have found a cradle at the Maun dumpsite, and farmers at Xobe cattle post near the landfill are having nightmares as the dogs go on a hunting spree, killing their goats!But the curs' days are numbered as the North West District Council (NWDC) has ordered their mass destruction. And Council Chairman Lawrence Mazinyane has vowed that come next week, the howling and yelping of the dogs will be replaced by silence. "Yes, I have given authority that they be killed next week," he told The Monitor in an interview. "Right now we are only trying to find better ways of getting rid of the animals. We won't use poison because birds are likely to feed on the carcasses and eventually die from the poison," he said. But it is not only the spectre of birds dropping dead from the sky after eating poisoned carrion that the council has to grapple with. There are also animal rights groups that have in the past condemned the council for shooting stray dogs, saying the act is tantamount to cruelty to animals.
The council though has limited options. Unless the dogs are killed, they will leave the small farmers of Xobe destitute. So vicious is the dogs' attack on livestock that in two separate incidents two farmers lost at least a dozen goats in a single strike.
