SANTIAGO CITY—The veterinary office here has fortified its yearly anti-rabies campaign in all the 37 villages of the city as a preemptive move against attacks from rabies-infected dogs this summer.
Most of the reported cases of dog assaults are on strangers visiting friends or relatives during the summer months, when high temperatures could easily provoke canines to launch attacks on unfamiliar guests.
Dr. Solomon Maylem, Santiago City veterinary officer, said his office is strengthening the city’s dog-registration program and the sustainability of mass anti-rabies vaccination in the city “to keep our dogs free from rabies infection that could be fatal to unwitting victims of dog bites.”
“We keep encouraging more dog owners to submit their dogs for registration, especially during the summer months when most students are on vacation and their invited friends are prone to dog bites,” Maylem said.
A decade ago, in line with a city ordinance on the adoption of standard form of certificate of anti-rabies vaccination, dog-tagging system and mandatory registration of dogs in the city, the veterinary department has implemented a city-wide dog-identification and canine vaccination in the entire city.
“Attaching tags on dogs could easily identify them, the owners, their addresses, the history when they were vaccinated and when the anti-rabies vaccines shall expire. The tag should be color-coded and distinguishable in shape and color as it serves as a tracking devise. Prevention is better than cure,” Maylem said in an online interview with the
BusinessMirror.
Provided in the Anti-rabies Act of 2007, a central database system shall be established and be required to all local government units. The law mandates the registry of all dogs for vaccination.
Santiago City Mayor Joseph Tan emphasized that, renewable annually, a permanent and nontransferable registry shall be provided by the city government unit to all registered dogs, and their corresponding tags are automatically issued to the owner upon registration. A standard vaccination tagging system, which includes registration number, code bearing the name of the city and the village, shall be used in the identification of the vaccinated animals.
Image credits: Leonardo Perante II