Bali to focus on vaccination in fight against rabies
Luh De Suriyani, The Jakarta Post, Karangasem, Bali | Tue, 09/28/2010 9:28 PM
Marking the World Rabies Day on Tuesday, the Bali Animal Husbandry Agency, the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) vowed to promote mass vaccination drives to fight the disease on the island.
BAWA founder Janice Girardi said the group celebrated recent achievements in rabies prevention and control and cast its vision to eradicate rabies from Bali by 2012.
“Although we have already completed vaccinations in two of Bali’s regencies in eight months, now is when the real on-the-ground work can start in earnest. Rabies is the most deadly disease known to humans and here in Bali we are fighting it with an army of highly-trained vaccination teams,” Girardi said during an event at state vocational school SMKN 1 Manggis in Padangbai, Karangasem regency.
Girardi said they would continue to campaign against culling stray dogs.
The provincial animal husbandry agency has set a target to vaccinate 70 percent of the island’s 500,000 dogs by the end of the year.
