Fine for owners of wandering animals to prevent hazards

Energy Saturday 25/May/2019 19:37 PM
By: Times News Service
Fine for owners of wandering animals to prevent hazards

Muscat: Owners of animals found to be wandering in public places will face legal action, municipal officials have warned.
A new project in Bidiyah in the North Sharqiyah Governorate, was launched after municipal officials in the town noticed a sharp increase in the number of animals roaming freely on roads, with little or no supervision from their owners.
The wandering animals can cause hazards for drivers and pedestrians, and often wander out into roads.
Some people even complained about finding lost sheep and camels in their homes and gardens.
The animals would enter people’s homes and courtyards while the owners were away and would prove almost impossible to shift.
Should the Bidiyah Municipality retrieve any camels that have been allowed to wander off, their owners will have to pay OMR15 per retrieved camel, while a recovered sheep will set owners back OMR5. That amount doubles for every additional day the animal is held by the municipality while waiting for the owners to pick it up, officials warned.
Salim Al Abri, the head of the Bidiyah Municipality in North Al Sharqiyah governorate, said: “The law was issued a long time ago, but we decided to start the campaign after these herd animals began quickly spreading in the Wilayat, which harmed the residents a lot. Sometimes, they would open the doors to their homes and find these animals inside.
“The animal follow-up team works 24 hours a day,” he added. “When the animal is detained, the owner will have to pay the fine and retrieve it within 12 hours or the amount will double with every additional day the animal stays in custody and after 15 days the animals will go to a public auction.”
Mohammed Al Hajri, Municipal Council member, said: “Stray animals hurt people and cause a lot of fatal accidents so in cooperation with the municipality we decided to enforce the law strictly and provide sites for the custody of the animals and their security and care.”
During the first day of the campaign the team managed to capture four camels. Al Abri confirmed: “When the campaign was announced, we received a great positive reaction from the population in their support for this programme. We also noticed a significant decrease in the number of stray animals in the Wilayat.”