Message From A World Animal Protection Vet

We need to keep repeating this information for the benefit of more people so that the public is properly educated about rabies and the most effective way to stop its spread.

Please share this widely.

We appeal to the authorities to please consider mass vaccination as a more compassionate and effective method of addressing the situation. Please stop killing innocent lives.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/stop-killing-start-vaccinating/message-from-a-vet/1013567978673528

Message from a vet from World Animal Protection:
A bit about rabies:
Once upon a time, islands like Flores and Bali were rabies free. And then they found a case or two of rabies. The initial reaction is to kill all the stray dogs. Remove the vector, removes the disease – sounds logical right? Did it help? No. Firstly, it is impossible to remove all stray dogs if you don’t address the cause. Secondly, it promotes dog movement – dogs that once guard their territory are not there to stop unknown dogs from moving in. Dogs that finds their own home unwelcoming, now must suddenly fight their way into new territories. What have we learnt about Bali and Flores? Rabies spreads wider with culling.
Mass vaccination of dogs is the answer and is promoted by all international agencies (WHO, OIE, GARC, etc etc). The theory behind this is to increase the ‘herd immunity’. Resident dogs in that area will become immune and become your disease barrier, so if there’s an infected dog in the area it does not spread its disease. If you maintain herd immunity for a given time, the disease can be eradicated. The general consensus is to aim to vaccinate (and maintain) a minimum of 70% of the dog population.
Now, if you only vaccinate owned dogs and keep them indoors, whilst there is a smaller population of stray dogs that are unvaccinated/unprotected (remember, you cannot remove all strays without addressing the causes), what is going to be your barrier against new infected dogs coming into your area?

Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2015/09/24/message-from-a-world-anim..

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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