Syria 'poisoning' stray dogs, as Damascus' pest population explodes

A Syrian regime official has claimed that sanitary workers have killed hundreds of stray dogs in Damascus, while a pest crisis grips the capital.

Ammar Kalaou, a member of Damascus' executive committee, told pro-regime al-Watan newspaper that 800 dogs had been "eliminated" in the capital this year, while 1,400 were killed in 2016.

He claimed that the explosion of wild dogs in Damascus had led to a dangerous situation in places such as Rukneddine with locals being bitten by the strays.

One dog had bitten 18 people in Damascus before it was shot, he claimed, while animal rights' activists have set up shelters for the dogs.

"When we are contacted by any governorate or residential district we address the situation immediately," he said, according to the Syrian Observer website.

Rodents and cockroaches have also taken control in markets, wasteland and abandoned areas in the capital with sanitary workers spraying poisons to kill vermin.

Government offices have also been plagued by outbreaks of rodents and insects with Kalaou saying a "comprehensive campaign" to combat the pests will be launched this week.

Reports of water cuts and sewage flooding has also led to outbreaks in pests in the capital.

Syria erupted into was in 2011 when peaceful protests were brutally put down by regime forces.

Fighting since then has led to 500,000 million deaths, while large parts of the rebel-held Damascus' suburbs have been ferociously bombed by regime war planes.

Meanwhile, the desperate situation has led to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera recently in the eastern province of Deir az-Zour.