Strange: Commune says no to dog breeding for more than half a century

(Baonghean.vn) - Too terrified after many people died from rabid dog bites, many villages included the content "no dog keeping" in the village covenant. And not only a few villages, but for more than half a century, the whole commune in the lowland area of ​​Dien Nguyen (Dien Chau) has been almost free of barking dogs. Perhaps this is a rare thing not only in Nghe An but also in the whole country.

For more than 50 years, the entire Dien Nguyen commune has not seen any dogs in households. Photo: Xuan Hoa

The land of Dien Nguyen commune (Dien Chau district) is now prosperous with high-rise buildings and tiled roofs springing up everywhere. But the pain of the rabies epidemic more than 60 years ago still does not fade in the memories of the people here. The horrifying story of that year is still told by generations of people and they are determined not to break the convention: No dog ownership!

When asked about the past, Mr. Nguyen Boi - former Chairman of Dien Nguyen Commune People's Committee, now 87 years old, residing in Hamlet 7 recalled: In the early 60s and before, like many other villages, people in Dien Nguyen still raised dogs normally. Every night, the sound of dogs barking echoed throughout the alleys. But one day in 1964, a rabies epidemic suddenly struck. A rabid dog bit a man in the commune to death. And then, many other people in the commune were also bitten by rabid dogs, leading to death.

Mr. Nguyen Boi - Former Chairman of Dien Nguyen Commune People's Committee recounted the story of 1964. Photo: Xuan Hoa

“At that time, there was no rabies prevention medicine like today. People bitten by rabid dogs were mainly treated with traditional medicine but it did not work. People's lives at that time were still full of deprivation and hardship. So after one and many victims were bitten to death by rabid dogs, everyone in the commune was confused and terrified. They avoided dogs when they saw them. At that time, dogs were seen as the god of death that always lurked in people's lives, so people agreed with the solution of "not raising dogs" - Mr. Boi recalled.

Too scared, many village chiefs, elders and people organized meetings. Thereby, they agreed to include in the village's internal regulations a prohibition on raising dogs. Since this village's internal regulations were implemented, without any paperwork, 100% of Dien Nguyen commune households decided to "say no" to raising dogs. At that time, any households that still raised dogs voluntarily sold or slaughtered them to comply with the unwritten rules.

Since this village covenant was established, the villages and hamlets in the neighboring communes of Dien Nguyen no longer dare to let their dogs roam freely. Because any dog ​​that runs into the hamlets of Dien Nguyen commune is beaten to death and the owner does not dare to ask for compensation. Thus, the covenant of not keeping dogs has been "guaranteed to be effective" by the people of Dien Nguyen until today.

In recent years, as people's lives have improved, medical conditions and science have developed. Rabies is no longer too serious for people's lives, and there is a vaccine to prevent rabies, so many families want to raise dogs again. Seeing that this desire is legitimate, in 2011, the People's Committee of Dien Nguyen Commune also assigned the Commune Fatherland Front Committee to direct hamlets to organize polling, collect people's opinions to change the village covenant related to raising dogs.

But the horror of the rabies epidemic more than half a century ago still makes people reluctant to change. According to a survey, up to 80% of the people asked in the whole Dien Nguyen commune do not agree with raising dogs. That is why until now, this countryside still has no sound of barking dogs.

Through discussion, Mr. Dam Van Hien - Chairman of Dien Nguyen Commune People's Committee shared: "Not only in 2011 but also in 2014, the commune government continued to survey and collect people's opinions, but this time the number of people opposing dog raising was even higher than the previous time with a rate of 82%. Part of the people were concerned about rabies and dog raising affecting the general environmental hygiene."

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Nguyen Commune also informed that since 2016, there have been some households in the area raising dogs, but they voluntarily kept them in cages because they knew that most of the people strongly opposed it. "Not raising dogs not only reduces the risk of disease, affects the general environmental hygiene, but also reduces the need to guard dogs because of dog thieves" - Mr. Dam Van Hien added.

Xuan Hoa