Institute wants stiffer measures on dog vaccination to check rabies

There is a rising case of rabies, veterinarian says.

Worried by the rising cases of rabies, the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, has called for stiffer measures to compel dog owners to vaccinate their dogs.

The Executive Director, Mohammed Ahmed, made the call in an interview in Vom on Wednesday.

“The number of rabid dogs is rising by the day and the only measure against that is a legislation that will force people to vaccinate their dogs.

“Dogs that are vaccinated should have collars around their necks; only that collar should confer on the animal the freedom to move around,’’ Mr. Ahmed said.

He said that the vaccination is very necessary to prevent dogs from getting rabies and stressed the need for owners to take seriously, the ongoing campaign to vaccinate their dogs.

He said Plateau has highest number of dog bites “from the frequent cases we receive very often”, adding that most dog bites were by wild dogs, roving dogs and ownerless dogs.

The NVRI observed that rural dwellers were particularly nonchalant about vaccinating their dogs.

“Most elites in the urban areas vaccinate their dogs but the rural dwellers leave their dogs to roam wildly without any care. This is not right.”

He said that it was to help owners vaccinate their dogs that a day was set aside for the activity and advised owners to take full advantage of that to do the right thing.

“On the day set aside for vaccination, the animals are vaccinated free of charge. People should be advised, in fact, compelled to take advantage of that,” he said.

Mr. Ahmed also suggested that the legislation compelling dog owners to vaccinate them should also cover other animals such as cows and cats, so as to protect the society from the ills of not doing so.