…calls on govt to protect dogs

…138 dogs register from different countries, 31 emerge winners

By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja

WITH the worrisome level of insecurity across Nigeria, a K9 expert and Managing Director of Chuns Kennels, Bruno Ezugoh, Tuesday, urged Nigerians to stop killing dogs for consumption.

Ezugoh who expressed concern over the way and manner dogs are treated in the country said importance of dogs cannot be overemphasized, because dogs have played significant role in providing security and companionship for their owners and households.

He added that dogs are right now needed than ever to assist in this wake of insecurity in Nigeria.

He made the appeal at the end of the 9th Edition of the Abuja annual Chuns Dogshow.

He also explained essence of Abuja annual Chuns Dogshow, which is to sensitize Nigerians best practices and culture of training their dogs in order to add value to these amazing pets instead of rearing them for consumption.

According to him, there are a lot benefits and advantages in having a well trained dog as it would provide security, less aggressiveness, and loyalty.

He said, “Since our laws prohibit possession of firearm except for special reasons, having dogs will go a long way in alerting people to flee from danger.

“It is counterproductive to kill dogs for consumption, while there are alternatives that can be explored for protein.

“There is a need for government to come up with stringent measures to stop the killing and consumption of dogs in view of their importance to the society.

“I know there is a law against animal cruelty in Nigeria but I have not seen so much result in terms of implementation.

“Dogs are pets and they are known as man’s best friend and should be preserved for purposes of security.

“In Nigeria and particularly in some parts of the country dogs are reared mainly for consumption when there are other forms of protein.

“As we speak, the rising demand for dog meat has increased the rate at which people steal it, which is unfortunate.”

However, he (Ezugoh) called on government to strictly enforce laws on animal rights and give them the well spelt out protection as enshrined in the law by emulating what other countries do in terms of enforcing similar laws, which protect dogs from being killed arbitrarily because it is prohibited.

“Some countries have stringent measures that prescribe as much as 21 years imprisonment for animal cruelty.”

He also urged security agencies to train their dogs within Nigeria instead of spending huge resources on them while same services are available in the country.

On the just concluded dogshow, he (Ezugoh) disclosed that 97 dogs competed as against 138 that registered from within and outside the country, with 31 winners, which out of the 31 winners,19 won trophies while others got medals.

He also explained that the competition was in six categories; Obedience, Agility, Protection, Best of Groups, Conformation, Freestyle.

He said a Border Collie breed called Lio, owned by a German, Christiane Cohnen, won the first position known as Best In Show and got a cash prize of N100,000.

The Reserve Best in Show position was won by a Boston Terrier breed known as Blue and owned by a German family, Dominik and Lea Mueller, with a prize of N25, 000.

The Best Puppy in Show position was won by a German Shepherd breed known as Sky and owned by a Nigerian, Johnny Mahtani, with N25,000 cash prize.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police(K9) Force Headquarters Abuja, Paul Omata, presented various prizes to winners.