‘Bring any number of dogs to vaccinate’

0

Pet owners bring their dogs for the free anti-rabies vaccination at Hui Ning Garden.

SIBU: Pet owners are assured there is no limit to the number of dogs that they can bring for the free anti-rabies vaccination programme.

Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health Dr Annuar Rapaee gave this assurance yesterday when asked if there was a limit to the number of dogs to be vaccinated during the programme.

“In fact, we encourage the public to bring their dogs for vaccination to curb the spread of rabies.

“Let us work together to make Sibu Division rabies-free,” he said.

Dr Annuar, who is also Assistant Minister of  Education and Technological Research again reminded pet owners to keep their dogs within their house compounds at all times, especially within one month after being vaccinated.

He said this is because the vaccine only works in one month after the injection.

Apart from the 29 locations providing the free vaccination, a mobile vaccination programme will also be carried out at 33 longhouses in Nangka constituency to vaccinate an estimated 1,000 pet dogs, starting Jan 30 (Tuesday).

The vaccination programme for Sibu Division began in Jan 20 in Sibu Jaya and will end on March 1 in Permai area.

Dr Annuar, who heads the rabies control team, said the programme targets to vaccinate about 70 per cent of the about 35,000 dogs in the division.

The other strategy is the removal of strays from the streets, he added.

The leading agencies for this programme here are Sibu Municipal Council (SMC), Sibu Rural District (SRDC) and Kanowit District Council (KDC), with support of State Veterinary Department and police.

For the record, the free anti-rabies vaccination programme had been held at Sibu Jaya, Durin and Ulu Durin Kiba areas as well as Kanowit District but response from pet owners was far from encouraging.

However, response was better at Hui Ning Garden in Upper Lanang Road here yesterday, where 396 dogs were vaccinated, compared to 367 during the two-day exercise in Sibu Jaya last weekend.

Today, the free mass rabies vaccination exercise will continue at Hui Ning Garden in Upper Lanang Road from 9am till 2pm.

The vaccinated dogs will be tagged using a red plastic chain and issued with a certificate by the Veterinary Services Department.

For information about the programme’s location, members of the public can call 013-8077964 / 084-310808.