In rural areas of Nghe An province, there are no longer any stray dogs.

EFFORTS OF THE "VILLAGE OF SCHOLARS"

For many years now, every time tourists visit...Quynh Doi communeIn Quynh Luu district, there's a feature that many people don't notice: besides the clean and beautiful village streets and alleys, and the numbered houses like in urban areas, there are no longer any stray dogs. This is because there are regulations in place where homeowners will be heavily fined according to a government decree and the village's customs if they allow their dogs to leave their gates.

Located on the main road leading into the commune, the iron gate of Mr. Ho Sy Chung's house (51 years old, Hamlet 8, Quynh Doi Commune) is always tightly locked after each entry and exit. Mr. Chung strictly enforces this habit in his family, from adults to children. He fears that if his dogs escape onto the road, they will be fined by the authorities. "For the past six years, although we've always kept dogs at home, we've never once let them go outside. Not to mention the risk of being fined or having our names publicized over the loudspeaker, we are aware that letting dogs defecate on the road causes unsanitary conditions and endangers passersby," Mr. Chung said.

Although he loves dogs, Mr. Chung said that when the village implemented regulations imposing heavy fines on stray dogs, he fully supported it. Since then, not only has his gate always been kept closed, but Mr. Chung has also trained his dogs not to go outside. "My dogs are very smart; they obey immediately after training. Now, even if the gate is slightly ajar, they won't run outside," Mr. Chung said with a smile.

Speaking about the fact that the entire commune is now free of stray dogs, Mr. Ho Sy Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Doi commune, said that this achievement is the result of the efforts of the local Party committee and government in raising awareness over a long period of time, as well as the high level of awareness among the people throughout the commune.

Mr. Hung recounted that in 2014, Quynh Doi was one of the first communes in Nghe An to achieve the new rural development goals. Later, this commune, known as the "village of scholars," also became the first model new rural development commune in Nghe An. After achieving the new rural development goals, the commune regularly welcomed many delegations and expatriates who came to visit and learn from the model. "When they visited the commune, we were always receptive to the feedback from the delegations and expatriates. Many complained about the large number of stray dogs defecating and causing unsanitary conditions, even though the village roads were already very clean," Mr. Hung said. Since then, the leaders of Quynh Doi commune began seeking solutions to this problem. At that time,There are still no regulations in place to penalize dogs that roam freely.

After receiving approval from the commune Party Committee, the Quỳnh Đôi commune government began issuing regulations prohibiting stray dogs. “Our commune has over 1,500 households, but at that time, like other villages, almost every household kept dogs. Even though there was a regulation prohibiting stray dogs, we didn't rush to enforce it immediately. Instead, we started with widespread public awareness campaigns. First, commune officials and Party members had to set an example, then we went on to persuade the people. In the early years, we only reminded people when we found stray dogs; we didn't yet impose fines,” Mr. Hưng recounted.

It wasn't until 2018 that the regulations on managing pet dogs in Quynh Doi commune were officially issued. The commune's regulations detail the responsibilities of dog owners. Specifically, residents must register with the village head to create a list for submission to the commune's People's Committee for the issuance of a dog management book. The book must clearly state the dog's date of birth, breed, sex, date the family acquired the dog, and vaccination dates.

Dog owners must strictly comply with the regulations on regular and supplementary rabies vaccinations issued by veterinary authorities and must carefully preserve vaccination certificates. In particular, dogs must be kept on a leash and indoors; they must not be allowed to roam freely on roads or in residential areas. When taking dogs to public places, they must be on a leash and muzzle. Dogs must not be allowed to roam freely on the streets, as this creates unsanitary conditions and causes accidents for road users. If you notice any unusual behavior in your dog, such as loss of appetite, high fever, or unusual aggression, immediately report it to the local veterinary staff or village head. Newly acquired dogs must be reported to the local veterinary authorities for inspection, monitoring, and rabies vaccination as required.

Residents also had to sign a commitment to abide by the "5 no's". These are: not keeping dogs without rabies vaccination; not letting dogs roam freely; not keeping dogs that pollute the environment; not allowing dogs to bite people; and not keeping dogs without registering them with the local authorities.

The regulations also state that dog owners are fully responsible for allowing their dogs to roam freely and defecate in a way that pollutes the public environment. They must compensate for health, mental, and material losses caused by their pets to the direct victims and the community. The dog that bit someone must be kept confined for at least 14 days, during which time any unusual behavior must be immediately reported to the nearest veterinary station for appropriate action. The dog owner is responsible for discussing and agreeing on the amount of compensation for travel, rabies vaccination, and other reasonable expenses with the victim or their family.

FINES FOR ROAD DOGS

After the regulations were issued and widely publicized, Quynh Doi commune established two patrol teams, including police officers and commune officials, to catch stray dogs. Members of these teams inspect village roads, and when they spot stray dogs, they use nets to catch them and bring them to the commune police station for processing. "These teams are equipped with nets to catch dogs and usually patrol in the early morning and late evening, because that's when dogs are most likely to defecate on the streets," said the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Doi commune.

At that time, there were days when patrol teams caught dozens of dogs. After bringing them to the headquarters, the commune authorities would announce the characteristics, time, and location of each dog's capture over the loudspeaker so that the people would be aware. If the owner did not come to claim the dog within 24 hours of the announcement, it would be euthanized. The fine for each instance of letting a dog roam freely without a muzzle was 700,000 VND (according to Decree 90/2017) and later increased to 1,500,000 VND (according to Decree 04/2020). All fines were deposited into the state budget.

"Because in villages and communes, it's unavoidable that patrol teams might have relatives or close relationships with the violators, so we clearly stipulated that there would be no exceptions. Initially, many dogs were seized. Some were small dogs, whose value was less than the fine, so many people didn't come to pay the fine to take their dogs back. In those cases, we established a team to publicly and clearly euthanize them. The procedures were strictly followed to avoid complaints," the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Doi commune recounted.

Initially, the task force patrols had to use nets to catch dogs every day. However, in the last few years, Quynh Doi commune has implemented a different regulation: issuing fines based on camera footage. Especially since 2020, houses in the commune have been assigned specific house numbers. Security cameras in the commune as well as in individual households have also been installed extensively.

“We regularly extract images from cameras and encourage people to film or photograph stray dogs they spot on the street and send the footage to the commune for processing. Patrols are still maintained but reduced. And each patrol no longer requires carrying a net. The person riding on the back of the motorbike will film with their phone; if they spot a dog on the street, they'll chase after it and film which house it goes to. Because the house number is clearly visible, they can then send a summons to the homeowner to come in for questioning and issue a fine,” said a police officer from Quynh Doi commune, part of the patrol team.

Not only are violators fined, but their names are also publicly announced over the commune's loudspeaker system. Therefore, the ban on letting dogs roam freely is strictly adhered to by the residents. According to statistics from the Quỳnh Đôi Commune Police, in the past six months, only four cases of dogs being fined have been recorded in the entire commune.

Thanks to effective dog management, the number of families owning dogs in Quynh Doi commune has decreased significantly. With no more stray dogs, village roads are cleaner, and residents feel safer because they no longer fear dog attacks, especially from dogs carrying rabies. According to the leaders of Quynh Doi commune, in recent years, many localities have come to learn from their example and implement similar regulations banning stray dogs, but due to hasty implementation, these measures only lasted for a short time before failing because the number of stray dogs remained too high.

Also in Nghe An province, Dien Nguyen commune (Dien Chau district) has long been known for prohibiting dog ownership. According to the commune's leaders, about 60 years ago, a rabies outbreak occurred in the area, resulting in many deaths from dog bites. Furthermore, at that time, most residents used water from shallow village wells, which allowed dogs to frequently defecate, causing unsanitary conditions. Since then, the locality has had a village regulation prohibiting dog ownership.

To legalize the village's customary rules, a few years ago, the leaders of Dien Nguyen commune included a regulation prohibiting dog ownership in a resolution and issued a document. "Afterward, the district inspected the document and found it to be inconsistent with legal regulations, so it had to be revoked. Since then, many people have started raising dogs again. That's why, in the past, based on the village's customary rules, no one in the commune owned dogs. But when it was included in a document, the prohibition could no longer be enforced," said Mr. Dam Van Chinh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Nguyen commune.

According to Mr. Chinh, since the government issued a decree on penalizing stray dogs, the commune has also set up patrol teams and equipped themselves with nets to catch dogs. However, after a short time, the authorities became powerless because they couldn't catch them all and "clashed with relationships in the countryside."