Tanzania Animals Protection Organization (TAPO) will continue its Animal Welfare Activities project in the Kahama District through free mass rabies vaccination campaigns in very high density areas of dogs and cat populations living in conditions of poor welfare. This project aims to identify the disease and protect animals through treatment and basic dog care. Tanzania Animals Protection Organization (TAPO) will continue its Animal Welfare Activities project in the Kahama District through free mass rabies vaccination campaigns in very high density areas of dogs and cat populations living in conditions of poor welfare. This project aims to identify the disease and protect animals through treatment and basic dog care.
Every year, many dogs are inhumanely culled in an attempt to stop the spread of rabies. Every day many people die of rabies most of these people are children under 15 years of age. Killing dogs is not the solution as it does not stop the disease, mass dog vaccination is the only proven solution.
TAPO will work with local governments to change their short term and brutal proposed reasons for dogs culling and help them to provide free mass vaccination and house to house on dogs and cats that involve local communities of Kahama District town municipal, Ushetu council, Msalala council a in Shinyanga region Tanzania.
By 2025 we would like all wards to be communities where no dog is needlessly culled because of fear of rabies, where dogs and humans benefit from mass and house to house vaccination programs in the following areas:
- Animal welfare: stops cruelty
- Human health: protects the community
- Economy: saves money
Key Facts About Vaccination
It’s a barrier
- Dogs are the main reservoir host for human and canine rabies.
- Vaccinating at least 70% of the dogs in an area creates “herd immunity”.
- Vaccinated dogs form a barrier, slowing the spread of rabies until it dies out. By removing this main source of infection, rabies cases in dogs and other animal populations can be eliminated and human rabies deaths vastly reduced.
It’s humane
- Many dogs are saved from needless inhumane culling driven by a fear of rabies.
- Many cases of rabies in dogs are also prevented.
- Vaccination promotes a more responsible and less fearful attitude toward dogs within communities.
It’s cost-effective
- Vaccinating dogs is not only more effective than culling dogs for controlling rabies, but it is also very cost-effective. As more dogs are vaccinated, fewer people are bitten by rabid dogs and this can greatly reduce the demand for costly human vaccines given for post-exposure treatment.
- Mass vaccination is cost-effective, humane and sustainable and it’s the only effective solution to controlling canine rabies.
Rabies—100% preventable
Culling dogs—100% needless
Fear Causes Cruelty
Fear of rabies is a major driving force causing many unnecessary dog deaths every year. Where rabies is endemic, so is cruelty to dogs. Mass vaccination addresses this fear and improves public attitudes to dogs. During a cull, dogs are often rounded up and methods used to kill them include poisoning, gassing, electrocution, beating and shooting. All often result in slow and agonizing death. Strychnine, for example, is administered using meat baits or darts. It causes violent convulsions and impaired breathing, which eventually kills the dog.
With baiting, dogs may experience extreme pain for over an hour in some cases, throughout which they are conscious. Carbon monoxide, another method, is often administered via car exhaust fumes to dogs that have been herded into gas chambers. Lack of oxygen in the blood and depression of the central nervous system leads to respiratory arrest and eventual death. During the gassing process, dogs howl, yelp and bark for about 7 minutes until they lose consciousness. They take up to 20 minutes to die.
Common Problems
- Rabies vaccination as well as treatment of any injuries, sores, wounds or disease by dog and cat owners is often inadequate or entirely lacking. Dogs are kept with injuries and sores on their bodies untreated. When the dog is ill, it is left to die without any help, and injuries and sores are left to become fly-infested, or the owner may apply ash or crude oils as a treatment.
- Local governments would rather deal with the disease through culling than by vaccinating.
- Knowledge of proper health programs to improve canine welfare is lacking among dog owners and handlers in districts where people think dogs are worthless compared to cattle, since dogs cannot provide meat or milk.
- Kahama Districts’ veterinary services are very poor, as there are only government vets with poor medical resources, and at present veterinary medical supplies tend to deal with livestock (cattle, goat, sheep, and chickens) veterinary requirements, since dogs are seen as worthless animals that do not provide economic return.
Projected Outcomes
Promotion of Responsible Pet Ownership whereby pets should be provided with proper food, shelter, vaccinations, regular health consultation with veterinarians or vet technicians, and kept, when possible, within the owner’s backyard where they are free from contact with infected dogs.
We expect to improve the health and welfare of more than 5000 dogs and cats in 5 ward areas which have high populations of these animals by:
- Decreasing the number of dogs infected by Rabies
- Decreasing the number of dogs with untreated wounds
- Improving the body condition of dogs
- Increasing the number of dog owners with knowledge of proper dog care
- Decreasing the number of abandoned dogs and strays
- Decreasing the number of dogs killed by shootings and poisonings
- Protecting human health and community welfare
- Decreasing in number of children dies from rabies diseases
For more information about our work please follow the link https://web.facebook.com/events/1035234138050509?active_tab=about
and https://web.facebook.com/TanzaniaTAPO
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