Dogs acting strangely since April, villagers claim

According to farmer Arry Baee, 46, his pet dogs had gone 'wild' and began attacking and biting other villagers and as a result, the canines had to be put to sleep.

"We noticed changes in the dogs such as their tails were downward, excessive salivation and acted aggressively by pouncing on anything including trees, humans or even their own tails.

"Gradually, the dogs' behaviour took a turn for the worse as they were running aimlessly," he said when met at the village today.

He said there was a case of a dog which bit another, then it ran "like crazy" towards the road and was hit by a car," said Arry, adding that after discussing the episode, the villagers decided to put the dog to sleep.

Yesterday, the health ministry confirmed three children including two siblings from the Serian district, Sarawak, were infected with rabies virus and were currently treated at the Sarawak General Hospital.

A Bernama check in the village, located about 80km from Kuching found that the villagers were going about their daily chores as usual and there were some dogs still roaming freely in the village.

Another villager, Paul Ken Gapaya, 57, said more than 10 individuals in the village had been bitten by dogs since late April.

"As far as I know, more than 10 individuals in this village have been bitten by dogs but they immediately sought treatment at nearby clinics," he added.

He also sympathised with the three children as he recognised the two siblings, the four-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister who were infected by rabies virus.