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Bali tackles stray dog problem
Source: Agencies |
November 16, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WORKING from a tiny mobile clinic, the veterinary team netted and held down a dog plucked from the streets of Indonesia's most popular beach resort and administered a quick injection.
The shot was a rabies vaccine, and the stray was among only a few dozen lucky enough to receive the preventive treatment that could save its life. Authorities on the tropical island of Bali have responded to a deadly epidemic with vaccinations and widespread culling.
Despite protests from animal rights groups that argue vaccinations are the only humane solution, more than 25,000 feral dogs have been culled with poison in a year. In the same period, rabies killed 18 people and spread to seven out of Bali's nine districts.
The latest Indonesian epidemic is part of a regional problem, with about 31,000 out of 55,000 annual rabies deaths worldwide caused by dog bites in Asia, according to the World Health Organization. Inoculations that cure humans already infected with rabies cost about US$49, more than 100 times the price of a preventive dog vaccination that runs about 30 US cents.
Apparently unable to foot that cost, Bali has opted for the cheapest response, which is culling.
But culling is ineffective because of the nature of wild animals, warned the WHO, World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the local Bali Animal Welfare Association.
Killing dogs immediately reduces the stray population, but leads to higher birth rates because those remaining thrive on the extra food and water. Their puppies survive in greater numbers than before.
"We believe culling fails to address the cause of the problem. That's why it doesn't work," said Sarah Vallentine, WSPA's program manager for Companion Animals in Asia. "It also alienates dog owners, the very people you want on your side if you want to stop rabies."
Most of the estimated 300,000 to 450,000 dogs are strays and roam the streets in search of scraps.
The shot was a rabies vaccine, and the stray was among only a few dozen lucky enough to receive the preventive treatment that could save its life. Authorities on the tropical island of Bali have responded to a deadly epidemic with vaccinations and widespread culling.
Despite protests from animal rights groups that argue vaccinations are the only humane solution, more than 25,000 feral dogs have been culled with poison in a year. In the same period, rabies killed 18 people and spread to seven out of Bali's nine districts.
The latest Indonesian epidemic is part of a regional problem, with about 31,000 out of 55,000 annual rabies deaths worldwide caused by dog bites in Asia, according to the World Health Organization. Inoculations that cure humans already infected with rabies cost about US$49, more than 100 times the price of a preventive dog vaccination that runs about 30 US cents.
Apparently unable to foot that cost, Bali has opted for the cheapest response, which is culling.
But culling is ineffective because of the nature of wild animals, warned the WHO, World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the local Bali Animal Welfare Association.
Killing dogs immediately reduces the stray population, but leads to higher birth rates because those remaining thrive on the extra food and water. Their puppies survive in greater numbers than before.
"We believe culling fails to address the cause of the problem. That's why it doesn't work," said Sarah Vallentine, WSPA's program manager for Companion Animals in Asia. "It also alienates dog owners, the very people you want on your side if you want to stop rabies."
Most of the estimated 300,000 to 450,000 dogs are strays and roam the streets in search of scraps.
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