LL vaccinates 25 000 dogs
Lilongwe Agriculture Development Division (Ladd) has vaccinated 25 000 dogs within a month to protect residents from rabies.
Ladd animal health officer Joseph Nkhoma said this is a record because similar exercises only vaccinated 12 000 dogs.
for vaccination
He attributed the success to better planning emanating from government working with partners such as Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA), who were at the centre of the exercise.
LSPCA procured 48 000 doses of rabies vaccine which have been administered to the dogs.
Said Nkhoma: “LSPCA and other donors conducted a survey in 2013 which revealed that there are 37 000 both owned and stray dogs in Lilongwe. So when planning, we targeted not less than 70 percent of the dogs and that has helped a lot, furthermore, we also had volunteers from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar) who helped in the actual exercise.”
Nkhoma said partnering with other stakeholders is vital if positive results are to be achieved.
He said: “ There is no one entity that can operate on its own, as such we need to enter into partnerships because there are a lot of dogs to be vaccinated.”
The vaccination exercise started on 29th September and ended yesterday.
