BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena said yesterday that 49,812 dogs in Negros Occidental have been vaccinated against rabies.
Decena said PVO targeted to vaccinate 215,521 dogs this year, out of the 269,401 population. As of March, 49,812 dogs have been inoculated or 18 percent of the target.
He said that in order to boost the local rabies awareness program, and to reach the target set for this year, the PVO, in close coordination with local government units, conducted massive free rabies vaccination provincewide.
Last month, the PVO conducted a series of activities, like the distribution of vaccines and veterinary medical missions, in collaboration with LGUs, as part of the Rabies Prevention Month observance.
Other services included free spaying and neutering, deworming, canine heartworm prevention, consultation and laboratory tests, such as fecalysis, direct microfilaria and skin tests, information-education campaign, brochure and flyer distribution, video presentation, and posting of tarpaulin.
Decena said these activities were done in San Carlos City, EB Magalona, Silay City, Moises Padilla, La Castellana, Hinigaran, Candoni, and Hinoba-an, and helped 1,329 dogs.
Seventy-one male dogs were castrated and 32 female dogs spayed in the cities of Silay and Victorias, 871 brochures/flyers were distributed, 48 tarpaulins were posted, and 85 seminar/video presentations were conducted, with 4,198 dog owners in attendance, he said.
CATS, TOO
Decena added that Negros Occidental is targeting to be a rabies-free province, but this cannot be accomplished by the provincial government alone without the collaborative efforts of every household with domesticated animals, like cats and dogs. He stressed that the responsibility of every pet owner is to have their animals vaccinated against rabies, and leashed or caged to prevent them from roaming in the streets.*
