OPVET Immunizes 2.8 Percent of Aklan Dogs

Some 1,604 heads of dogs in Aklan, or 2.8 percent of its current total dog population of 55,312 are immunized against rabies. This is too far away of Aklan’s target to vaccinate at least 80 percent or 44,249 dogs to make Aklan a rabies-free province.
This fact was revealed by Lilia Tayco, Provincial Rabies Coordinator, Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPVET) during the PIA’s weekly Kapihan program aired over RMN-DYKR, Kalibo, Aklan.
“Most of the immunized dogs are brought straight to the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian by owners and those in the barangays whose officials coordinated with their office for mass dog immunization in the barangays,” said Tayco.
“To immunize all dogs in Aklan, some 4,425 vials of anti-rabies vaccines are needed worth more than 2 million pesos. However, only P650,000 was approved for this purpose by the province and from this amount, OPVET purchased some 323 vials only while the rest of the fund was spent for information dissemination activities,” according to Tayco.
“OPVET is strongly advocating for the implementation by all municipalities of Aklan of the Anti-Rabies Ordinance to minimize the incidence of rabies cases in Aklan. There are no reported cases of rabies infection although the Provincial Health Office in Kalibo recorded a total of 577 dog bite cases from January 2005 to December 2005, she added.
Tayco called all dog lovers to be responsible pet owners and take good care of their pets, feed them clean food and place them in clean sleeping areas to be free from diseases, and secure them so they won’t roam around to endanger the lives of the people.“OPVET is prepared to immunize dogs brought to the office from Monday to Friday. To help control Aklan’s dog population, free castration services are provided the dog owners except the needed medicines. For mass vaccination of dogs, all it takes is a letter from the interested barangay officials to Aklan Governor Marquez requesting the OPVET office for the conduct of the activity”, concluded Tayco. (PIA/Venus G. Villanueva) /MP mailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com