By Tendai Makaripe
Kwekwe City Council has announced plans to shoot stray and roaming dogs across several parts of the city, a move that has sparked debate over rabies control, public safety and animal welfare.
In a notice dated April 17, the council said the exercise would run from April 20 to May 27 from 0800hrs to 1700hrs in Mbizo, low-density areas, the central business district, Msasa, Newtown, Chicago, Golden Acres, Fitchlea, Amaveni, Ward 6 and Mines.
The notice describes the operation as a “Schedule for the shooting of stray and roaming dogs (tie-up order implementation) from 20 April, 2026 to 27 May, 2026.”
Founder and Co-director of an international nonprofit organisation called Speak Out For Animals (SOFA) that seeks to protect animals through the legal system, Advocate Eve
Chinoda has challenged the plan in a letter to Kwekwe City Council.
In the letter, she acknowledges the rise in dog-bite complaints and rabies fears, but says the city should not use “mass shooting as a primary control method.”
Chinoda argues that the approach raises “legal, ethical, and practical challenges” and urges the council to adopt “an integrated, preventative, and humane strategy” instead.
She says the council should focus on public awareness, responsible pet ownership, dog licensing, sterilisation, vaccination and community-based rehoming.
“Culling will not deliver lasting results if authorities do not address abandonment, uncontrolled breeding and dogs that roam freely because owners fail to restrain them,” she said.
Animal health policy analysts say current international guidance supports parts of Chinoda’s argument.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) says “euthanasia of dogs, used alone, is not effective” for dog population management and says reducing dog numbers alone does not effectively reduce rabies cases.
The body says authorities should combine any such action with vaccination,registration and other long-term control measures.
That position also fits Zimbabwe’s broader rabies-control direction.
WOAH said in June 2025 that Zimbabwe’s Directorate of Veterinary Services, working with human health, wildlife, environment and animal welfare stakeholders, finalised a national strategic plan for dog-mediated rabies control.
The plan includes mass dog vaccination, dog population management, surveillance, better access to post-exposure treatment for humans and public awareness campaigns.
Zimbabwe also reaffirmed its commitment to the global goal of ending human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
Zimbabwean law also frames the dispute.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act remains part of the country’s legal framework, while the Urban Councils Act gives municipalities power to make by-laws on local administration and public health.
Recent government gazettes also show councils continue to use dog licensing and control by-laws as a regulatory tool.
The dispute now leaves Kwekwe facing a wider question that many councils across Zimbabwe may soon confront: whether to answer rabies fears with culling, or to build a longer-term system that targets vaccination, licensing enforcement and responsible ownership at the source.
