Of Guard Dogs, Coconut Trees and Rabies

The motorcycle wound its way through the rocks lining the dirt road. A few yards ahead, three more riders moved forward, bathed in the heat of the sun hanging high in the blue wide open sky. Open plains dotted with tiny flags and the occasional carabao whizzed past, with every turn along the track opening unto glimpses of far off hills and bubbling brooks. A picturesque beginning to a day of surveying in Camotes Island.

As part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project headed by the Department of Health in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and the Medical Research Council (UK) - the Animal Welfare Coalition conducted a series of household surveys in the 4 municipalities that make up the island group of Camotes.

The elimination of both canine and human rabies in the Visayas hinges on the combined efforts of both agencies and the individual local government units. Mass vaccinations of dogs against rabies are taking place all throughout the Visayas and additional support for bite victims has been provided in most urban and rural district hospitals. The survey project was initiated to assist the government in assessing vaccination coverage in Camotes as well as to provide insight into the characteristics of the canine population and the dynamics that exist between it and the island's human population.

With the assistance of the Provincial Veterinary Office of Cebu and the staff of the Municipal Agricultural Offices of Pilar, Poro, San Francisco and Tudela – approximately 1400 dog-owning households were surveyed. Over the course of three weeks of surveying, the project generated a large amount of data that will eventually be analyzed and reformatted into pie charts, bar graphs and figures. But most importantly, it reaffirmed the important connection that Responsible Pet Ownership has in the implementation of the Anti-Rabies Law and its subsequent programs.

More often than not, households that place importance on owning a dog as a companion pet or guard dog, will take the initiative to bring their dogs for vaccination and registration themselves without having to wait for the next mass vaccination to be scheduled. They keep a collar on the dogs, tie them to a secure spot to avoid causing accidents and are more than eager to boast of how friendly and well-behaved their dog is.

Whether it be a house in the far flung bukid, or along the coastline or even the barangay captain's in the central district – if the owners are taught the importance of securing yearly vaccination for their dogs, as well as how to properly raise their canine companions – the problem of rabies may soon come to an end in the Philippines.

Contributed by Maria Alyssa Yee Policarpio, RN, the Project Liaison Officer – Animal Welfare Coalition, Philippines.