DOSING OF DOGS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29679, 24 November 1961, Page 15

DOSING OF DOGS

Petition To County

A petition from 69 dog owners asking for less frequent dosing of pet dogs against hydatids was received at last evening's meeting of the Heathcote County Council. The council decided to pass on the petition to the Banks Peninsula Hydatids Control Committee with a recommendation that dosing should be carried out at less frequent intervals as soon as practicable. The substance of the petition was that, whereas dogs in Christchurch city were now to be dosed only once a year, dogs in adjacent builtup areas of the county still had to be dosed four times a year, vzhich was said to be unnecessary. The petitioners also asked for pet dogs to be dosed at home instead of on a strip, and by a tablet dose instead of liquid. “I think they have something in the contrast between city and country areas,” said Cr. C. D. le Comte. “Perhaps we should ask the committee to partition our counity for dosing purposes.” Cr. J. S. Scott thought the important thing was to get rid of hydatids. It was time to dose at less frequent intervals when the incidence of the disease was sufficiently reduced. Cr. J. C. Hollis said that pet dogs living in built-up areas adjacent to paddocks where sheep were kept were still liable to pick up hydatids from offal. He agreed with Cr. Scott that the test was the incidence of the disease. He thought, however, that pet dogs could well be dosed at home.

Cr. R. F. Shepard held that the petition should be adopted by the council. A compromise motion was adopted suggesting to the committee that a change should be made to less frequent dosing as soon as the position warranted.