Officers and SSPCA volunteers give vaccination to a dog at the shelter.
Dona (left) and Dr Nicholas field questions from the press.
KUCHING: Pet owners are urged to vaccinate their dogs against rabies one year after the initial vaccination exercise.
President of Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) Datin Dona Drury-Wee said pet owners must ensure that their pets receive the second annual booster anti-rabies vaccination so that they can fight against the deadly rabies virus.
“The animals must be vaccinated every year, and now is the time to get them vaccinated again” she said when met at the SSPCA shelter in Kota Sentosa to monitor some 300 dogs re-vaccinated by officers from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS).
Kuching Divisional Veterinary officer Dr Nicholas Jenek however, expressed his disappointment with the public’s poor response towards the mass vaccination campaigns conducted by the department from time-to-time.
“Even though we had the media to publicise the campaign, not many people turned up with their pets to get the free vaccination. The most we got was around 100 dogs.”
Those who missed the opportunity to get their pets vaccinated can bring their pets to the government veterinary clinic during office hours at a fee of RM25 per pet.
Dona, meanwhile, said the poor response was due to the ‘don’t care’ attitude.
“Some said their dogs don’t like to go into the car, cannot fit in the car, dogs never go out, or no time to bring them to the vet.
“It really goes down to you if you want to ensure the safety, health, welfare and well-being of your dogs. There was a villager who only has a motorcycle who brought four of his dogs one at a time to the clinic to get them vaccinated,” she added.
Besides vaccination, Dona said neutering was the second most important but expensive procedure in efforts to reduce the population of strays.
“When people think it is cruel to neuter the animals, we need to ask them if throwing away and abandoning puppies and kittens are not cruel.
“Dogs can give birth twice a year with a minimum of four pups while cats up to three times a year.”
Dona also said the local councils would be conducting the second round of capturing strays and pets roaming the streets.
“There will be no returning of the dogs once they are caught by the councils during this disease outbreak. It is stated that for rabies eradication, un-owned animals should be removed from the area.
“Moreover, it is against the law to let pets run outside the house compound during rabies outbreak. In fact, the council by-law states that pet animals must be kept within the house compound,” she added.
Dr Nicholas meanwhile admitted facing challenges and dilemmas when trying to get rid of strays during this outbreak period.
“As vets, we are animal-loving people. But at the end of the day when weighing the priorities and consequences, we should all understand that human lives are more valuable,” he said.