Cat is a good pet but a disease generating animal too. Some cat-related diseases that make people sick are common, such as cat scratch disease (or cat scratch fever), and others such as plague (play-g), are rare. Toxoplasmosis(TOX-o-plaz-MO-sis) is a disease that can come from cats, but people are more likely to get it from eating raw meat or from gardening. Cats can also carry rabies, a deadly viral disease.
The civic body in Dubai has said that the restaurants will be fined if stray cats are found on their premises.
Municipality’s reactions were made after residents in number of areas including Al Rashidiya, Al Rigga and Al Dhiyafa complained about stray cats roaming outdoor food outlets, as they pose a health and safety hazard.
Hashim Al Awadi, Head of Veterinary Services Section at Dubai Municipality said that the customers faced with stray cats in restaurants should notify the municipality immediately and an inspector will be responsible in assessing the situation. If he finds that the establishment has committed health and safety offences, they will be fined a minimum of Dh500.
However, he stressed that the restaurant’s management is not responsible if stray cats are not in the restaurant, but outdoors near the street, and that one of the main ways to combat the problem would then be for customers to refrain from feeding the animals.
He further added that they have a team dedicated to control stray animals, mostly cats, and they carry out a comprehensive programme that includes neutering them and then releasing them back into the areas they were collected.
Residents are encouraged to contact Dubai Municipality’s hotline number 800 900 to report stray animals in restaurants.
A mother of two, Maria Cristina Mercado, resorted to having her three-year-old son vaccinated for rabies after he was bitten by a stray cat in Al Rashidiya last week.
She said that we did not give the cats anything to eat but they kept on walking near the chairs. The moment my son got up, the cat bit him. I had a relative that died of rabies after being bitten by a puppy, and the life of my son was at risk because of the restaurant’s negligence.
She added that she filed a complaint to the municipality but the inspector explained that there was nothing he could do. The cats were not inside the kitchen, or anywhere indoors, and since they were near the street’s pavement, the inspector was not able to make the restaurant responsible for my child’s accident.
It’s a very good initiative by Dubai authorities are these stray animals carry lot of diseases with them and those diseases are easily passed on to humans. People are also required to stop feeding the stray cats as it encourages them to re-visit the establishment for food.
From Gulf News
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