One million rabies vaccinations: One million reasons to celebrate dogs.
News
Together, we are moving the world to protect dogs from culling.
In a significant step towards ending the cruel killing of dogs out of rabies fear, World Animal Protection has provided one million rabies vaccinations across Asia and Africa to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of dogs.
Despite the strong relationship many of us have with dogs, nearly 10 million dogs are inhumanely killed every year, primarily due to misguided attempts to eliminate rabies.
The mass killing of dogs in response to rabies is not only cruel, it’s ineffective – killing doesn’t prevent the spread of rabies. Mass dog vaccination, coupled with dog population management, is the only scientifically proven and humane way to protect dogs and people from rabies.
Joanna Tuckwell, Campaign Manager, Asia Pacific for World Animal Protection said:
“Since 2011, we’ve worked with governments and partner organisations to perform one million rabies vaccinations and community education in Kenya, Zanzibar, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh.
“Every human death and every dog death from rabies is one death too many. We know that vaccination works. Our results speak for themselves. There have been no human rabies cases reported in our pilot sites in China since our work there in 2012 or in Zanzibar since 2013.
“In many communities, killing dogs is seen as a short-term fix for a rabies outbreak but there is no evidence to show this has an effect on rabies transmission. Moreover, methods used are inherently cruel and inhumane including gassing, poisoning with strychnine, or clubbing dogs to death.”
“The elimination of rabies through mass vaccination is within our grasp but there is still a lot of work to do. Our Better Lives for Dogs campaign aims to improve the welfare of millions more dogs by influencing governments and working with communities where rabies exists, to make mass dog vaccination a reality and save lives.”
Sadly, millions more dogs desperately need our help.
• Influencing governments to prioritise dog welfare.
• Working with communities to develop local solutions and educate dog owners.
You can help by being a hero for dogs – yours and others around the world. Together we can protect them by saving 25 dogs by providing rabies vaccinations to dogs in need.