Rabies Vaccinations Prevent Culling Thousands Of Stray Dogs

[Boronia]

A good news story...

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breakin...f-1225931325508

A CAMPAIGN to vaccinate almost 400,000 dogs against rabies has began on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, where an outbreak of the disease killed 93 people since 2008, officials said.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) was running the mass vaccination program in conjunction with the provincial government, which previously tried to stop the outbreak by culling thousands of stray dogs.

"Rabies remains a threat to both human and animal populations and still kills 55,000 people annually," WSPA Chief Executive Officer Mike Baker said in a statement.

"Bali’s multi-stakeholder approach will prove once again that the only effective solution to the rabies problem is one that combines compassion with scientific knowledge."

He said the vaccination agreement would save the lives of tens of thousands of dogs on the Hindu-majority island and "create a historic reference in the global fight against rabies."

Experts said culling was not the most effective or humane way to deal with rabies outbreaks.

Bali animal husbandry agency chief Putu Sumantra said it would take up to four months to carry out the vaccinations.

The project was supported by the Australian government, which donated 370,000 doses of the dog rabies vaccine, WSPA said.

[Alyosha]

Sounds good. Imagine if they were able to desex them while they were at it!!

[RuralPug]

So the Australian goverment had all those cases doses of rabies vaccine handy???? Maybe it was nearly out of date (as we don't have rabies here but I suppose a stock pile in case is a good idea!) so good on them for finding a good use for it before turfing it out, if that is the case.

Of course there is also the thought that helping to decrease the incidence of the disease in Indonesia also helps to decrease the chances of it coming here via a fishing boat or something. Win win all around, really.

ETA more sense. How many doses in a case anyway? :D

Edited September 30, 2010 by RuralPug

[Puppoochi]

This must be the reason why there is a shortage of the vaccine atm.

[quoll]

This is pretty complicated and an ongoing problem. The Indonesian Govt does not really have a vaccination protocol for rabies. They do have a vaccine produced locally, however many Australian vet question it's efficiency.

Australian vets have been sent to Bali to assist in this crisis taking with them vaccines, to do the best they could under the circumstances. They are also training the local vets and desexing as many dogs as they can.

It's a very sad situation, most of all for the CHILDREN of BALI. They are the ones most likely to be bitten, most are around the age of 5.

Bali has NO TREATMENT for rabies, the victims just die, and in the most horrible way. They are usually tied to a bed and left there in agony. In Australia if a person was in a similar situation they would be placed in an induced coma, to avoid the agonising death, they would be made comfortable with pain control.

The worst part of all this is the sheer numbers of victims bitten each year, most are loacals and no one ever hears about it.

Little do the tourists know they too are at "risk" as no treatment is available period, flying them home is almost impossible as a "mercy" flight is the only way back, you can not place them on a normal flight.

Tourists are bitten each year also and sadly most die.

At this stage an effort is been made to try to control the situation, but it will take a lot more to succeed. The Indonisian Govt. needs to formulate a policy, employ vets and use proven vaccins.

But the fight is not only against RABIES but also CORRUPTION at just about every level.

At this point the situation is far from been under control.

Edited October 6, 2010 by quoll

[Boronia]

That's interesting Quoll...do you have a link to the article as I will forward it to friends going to Bali soon

[quoll]

That's interesting Quoll...do you have a link to the article as I will forward it to friends going to Bali soon

I can PM you the source of my information if you need it.

[Rusky]

quoll where did you get that from ?

Bali vets are doing a fantastic job, for anyone who is in Bali and sees a dog in serious need you can contact Yudisthira or BAWA. A vet will come and visit and you can give a donation for whatever they do. They go out and vaccinate, desex and now vaccinate for rabies and have been doing for many years. The govt plan is to shoot all the dogs, that doesn't work unfortunately and sadly for the poor dogs who were not carrying rabies.

contact either Bawa or yudisthira in Bali...number should be on the site somewhere, is certainly in the phone book in Bali and if you can't find it there then email me from Bali and I will give you a contact

http://www.balistreetdogs.org.au/

also here iis the yudisthira site

http://www.yamp.com/balidogs/foundation.htm

Edited October 7, 2010 by Rusky

[quoll]

An envoy of vets went to Bali for 3 months and have only just returned, let's just say there are major differences between what authorities would have you believe and the sad facts.

To such an extent that a village in Bali had a cow, the cow belonged to the village, the poor thing contracted rabies and the villagers seeing their only asset facing a sad end decided to sell it. The Aussie vets had to explain that was not a good idea, and after enquiring with experts back here, it was decided the cow was safe to eat as long as it was beheaded and the head not consumed.

The cow had only just been bitten and the illness had not yet set in.

There is an Australian woman in Bali who is doing extrodinary work, and funding it all herself, she also worked closely with the Autralian team.

Our vets weredevastated by what they wittnessed, a 5 yo girl been attacked by a dog with rabies, her uncle and grandfather stepped in to help her, both were also bitten. Aussie did all they could do get some meds from home to Bali for the little girl, great effort as it was very costly but they saved her. The relatives died. It was a very hard 3 months from our team and they deserve our support not our doubt.

Do you really think Indonesia want the Australian to be made aware of how bad it really is !

Just a foot note about the statistics, as most people are in villages with little or no transport to get to a medical aid how on earth can they have accurate statistics.

Edited October 7, 2010 by quoll

[Rusky]

australian vets ( and vets from other countries) regularly go to Bali. It is a shock to them, no doubt. It used to be that no dogs could be imported into Bali, actually the Europeans living on the Island insisted that their dogs be allowed to live there.They got permission eventually and originally my main concern was the inbreeding, those dogs should all have been desexed so they could not mate with the Bali dog.

This of course had flow on effect and the boats coming from other parts from Indonesia could also bring their dogs. I can't remember exactly but probably around 1999 I was at a meeting in Bali and it was reported that rabies was just 5 Islands away.

The biggest problem honestly is going to be when the first monkey gets rabies, if that has not happened already.

I was speaking to a vet in May who is with Yudisthira and one major problem had been the shooting and not vaccinating, she has worked tirelessly to get the govt to understand that vaccination is the only way. Unfortunately a lot of overseas money has dried up for the animal rescue groups as people are not inclined to support ( as they see it ) rabid dogs. I am happy the govt has finally listened. The vet has been buying as much rabies vaccine as she can manage and vaccinating dogs for free.

Also yes tourists do get bitten from time to time but the fear of rabies has made everyone report a bite and to get the rabies treatment just in case, which you can understand. Of the 30 reported cases I am fairly sure ( but don't quote me )that only 2 were rabid dogs also again in North Bali, isolated and very scary I would imagine being so far from the airport, those cases were air lifted to Darwin.

The Balinese themselves have no money for treatment however now in many isolated areas of the Island there are groups working to improve conditons such as Rotary international and the Helen Flavel foundation. They do provide health care.

So sad as every kampung has at least 5 dogs.

[quoll]

I have no doubt that a lot of people DO their upmost to help, there are many caring organisation and individuals in this world, thank goodness.

In the case of tourists, they, at least get the opportunity to be vaccinated in their homeland before travelling. You stipulate that there are few bites and that they are all reported, well many are reported. However many are NOT once you leave the major centres and you are in the villages.

You have not addressed the fact that hospitals even in the major centres do not carry any medications to treat rabies.

I am not suggesting that there is an epidemic, but I am suggesting there are still some very serious problems in Bali with rabies.

And one of the bigger issues is the corruption, sorry to make this political but it is. The Indonisian govt is producing a vaccines against rabies as I wrote earlier, but it is totally useless. Therefore quoting large figures of vaccinated dogs may sound good but which vaccines were used?

As I said it is very complex it is not just about rabies. Fortunately there are many western charities and organisation are trying to help.

The vets I have spoken to came home very distressed you are right, one is in private practice the other a member of the CSIRO researche team. I can not name them on a forum, however if you need further proof pm me.

[raz]

The vet has been buying as much rabies vaccine as she can manage and vaccinating dogs for free.

How do they know which dogs have already been vax'd? I'd think they dont have the money to knock them out to tattoo the inside of their ear so maybe they just tag the ear???

I just had another thought - how do they know the dog doesnt already have rabies when they give it the vax?

Edited October 7, 2010 by raz

[Rusky]

Raz they spray them with paint, not the best I know but from a distance you wouldn't see a tag and they can't keep a collar on. If they already have the virus then it is too late, if they show symptoms they kill them. There are many areas not yet affected it is those areas the vets were working to vaccinate the dogs.

sorry quoll I wasn't realising I had to get into the political arena, it really is a waste of time you know...In Indonesia you just have to do what you can do within their country which runs the way it runs, I doubt that will ever change. Corruption is a way of life from the cradle to the grave. The vaccine or drugs of any type, human and animal is really a different debate. The WHO has massive problems trying to control antibiotics in third world.

If you are a tourist you are air lifted or if you have private insurance you will get treatment. There is no money unless you work, no handouts. It will be entirely up to charity organisations to provide treatment for rabies for the poor, it is not our country and we can't compare ours to theirs.Charity organisations must be recognised by the govt or they are unable to work in the country, they must be registered.

[raz]

Thanks Rusky.

Sorry for all the questions but I'm really interested - how long does rabies take to show symptoms and are there any risks of giving the dog the vax if it already has it? I guess it doesnt matter really because if it has it, it's going to be killed anyway but I'm thinking of the wastage of vax more than anything.

And I totally agree with you about the Indo Govt.

[poodlefan]

Dumb arsed queston of the week:

Why don't they just assist the Balinese to cull the dogs?

Getting a severe bite from a stray as a kid is pretty serious whether or not the dog has rabies.

[raz]

Dumb arsed queston of the week:

Why don't they just assist the Balinese to cull the dogs?

Getting a severe bite from a stray as a kid is pretty serious whether or not the dog has rabies.

Normally I would say the same thing, Poodie, but think about young Indonesian soldiers firing off guns in crowded villages (I assume they use the army for culling over there). Not a great visual .

[Rusky]

how long does rabies take to show symptoms and are there any risks of giving the dog the vax if it already has it

that is a hard one to answer as it can take up to 2 years which is why I mentioned the macaques they may already be infected and in monkey forest those macaques can be nasty because they get their food mostly from humans so are greedy and demanding, people do get bitten there. Usually around 6 weeks I believe but the symptons can be similar in the first stage to distemper with neurological signs, distemper is very common in Bali.

We tried to save a sweet dog in May with distemper but he had to be pts. In april and May the wind carries the virus and a lot of dogs die. The Balinese are used to seeing these dogs around twitching and so on. Sure they get to the hydrophobia thing and the aggression but they should really be pts when they show any neurological signs I guess.

You wouldn't worry about giving a vaccination to an already infected animal.

Dumb arsed queston of the week

actually they did but I can assure you that shooting dogs on the beach in a tourist area ( healthy dogs people have befriended ) is not the answer, there will always be dogs in Bali, even if they killed them all more would come. I think they need to stop importation and vaccinate what they have but that probably won't happen any time soon, the wheels of the Indonesian politial system grind exceedingly slowly...

They should start vaccinating the macaques too.

[poodlefan]

Dumb arsed queston of the week:

Why don't they just assist the Balinese to cull the dogs?

Getting a severe bite from a stray as a kid is pretty serious whether or not the dog has rabies.

Normally I would say the same thing, Poodie, but think about young Indonesian soldiers firing off guns in crowded villages (I assume they use the army for culling over there). Not a great visual .

They don't have to shoot them. Humanely trap and PTS would work.

[Staranais]

Raz they spray them with paint, not the best I know but from a distance you wouldn't see a tag and they can't keep a collar on. If they already have the virus then it is too late, if they show symptoms they kill them. There are many areas not yet affected it is those areas the vets were working to vaccinate the dogs.

Have they considered clipping the tip of an ear to identify a dog that has been done, like in some speuter programs? I wouldn't think paint would stay on that long. It's ouch for the dog, but heals up & is not worse than a lot of things we do to livestock.

I too think they should be trapping & culling to reduce the feral dog population, if the population is too high to vaccinate and they can't speuter. It's sad, but little kids with rabies just doesn't bear thinking about. I've seen videos of people with rabies and it was atrocious.

Edited October 9, 2010 by Staranais

[Rusky]

Raz they spray them with paint, not the best I know but from a distance you wouldn't see a tag and they can't keep a collar on. If they already have the virus then it is too late, if they show symptoms they kill them. There are many areas not yet affected it is those areas the vets were working to vaccinate the dogs.

Have they considered clipping the tip of an ear to identify a dog that has been done, like in some speuter programs? I wouldn't think paint would stay on that long. It's ouch for the dog, but heals up & is not worse than a lot of things we do to livestock.

I too think they should be trapping & culling to reduce the feral dog population, if the population is too high to vaccinate and they can't speuter. It's sad, but little kids with rabies just doesn't bear thinking about. I've seen videos of people with rabies and it was atrocious.

too many dogs have bits of ears missing anyway they have been shooting, it isn't the answer , they do trap and vaccinate, why kill a healthy dog I don't understand ? why kill all the dogs when more will come, why kill family pets. I can imagine the outcry here if authorities came bumbling onto your property to kill it as it may carry rabies. Many people in Indonesia do love their dogs like we do. Many countries in the world have rabid animals, they don't kill them all. They need a vaccination programme for animals which can contact rabies and bite, like the monkey and the dog. Many dogs you see in Bali actually do belong to people they are called 'street dogs' but aren't really and the owners must be found first which actually isn't too hard, some people deny ownership, or used to as they were in such shocking condition but with education and excellent work the dogs health is vastly improved.