Guest guest Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 The following reports describe a situation that animal advocates in the Cuddalore vicinity really ought to be jumping on with both feet & megaphones-- >The Hindu Saturday, October 13, 2007 > >Stray dog menace at Thevanampattinam >Special Correspondent > >CUDDALORE: Stray dog menace in the permanent-house cluster of >tsunami-hit Thevanampattinam is on the rise. Eleven persons, >including 10 women have been attacked in the past two days...All of >the victims were treated as outpatients at government headquarters >hospital here. >...some of the victims were referred to Puducherry Government >Hospital as the Cuddalore Government Hospital had run out of tissue >culture vaccine (TCV) or rabies vaccine. > >The angry residents also beat up a dog to death on Thursday... > >As the killing of dogs was prohibited under the law, sterilisation >was being done to control their numbers, Mr. Rajendran said... > >Joint Director (Health) N. Raja refuted the allegation of scarcity >of drugs. On an average, the government headquarters hospital was >treating 40 to 50 dog attack cases a day and it always kept about >300 to 400 vials of vaccine ready. It was also spending about Rs. 13 >lakh on vaccines once in three months, he said. --- >The Hindu Sunday, October 28, 2007 > >Three women succumb to rabies > >CUDDALORE: Three women, all residents of the newly-built colony for >the tsunami-affected Thevanampattinam here, died of rabies in the >past two days. Questions to be raised-- 1) If the post-exposure vaccine supplies are adequate, why did these women die? 2) Why is the rabies control strategy focused on post-exposure treatment in the first place, when that does nothing to reduce the rabies reservoir among dogs? Sterilizing dogs to control their numbers obviously needs to be done, and is an essential part of a longterm rabies elimination strategy. However, the very first thing that needs to be done in a situation like this is mass vaccination of as much of the canine population as can be caught. Get to 70% vaccination first, to stop the rabies outbreak, prevent human deaths, and avoid public outcry for killing any & all dogs. Then do sterilization. In places where there are no active rabies outbreaks, sterilizing and vaccinating dogs at the same time is the more efficient way to work. Where there is an active rabies outbreak, however, vaccinating as many dogs as possibly has to be priority #1. Otherwise, there will be human exposure, will often be human deaths, and will be the kind of hue-and-cry that leads to benighted public officials killing dogs who have already been sterilized -- Merritt Clifton Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 Telephone: 360-579-2505 Fax: 360-579-2575 E-mail: anmlpepl Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year; for free sample, send address.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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