Dogs Neutralising Drive Decreases Canine Bite Cases by 50%: LRH Report

Peshawar: The Dog Neutralising campaign in Peshawar with the aim of reducing their population and containing the dangerous zoonotic disease of rabies has revealed that canine bites have decreased by more than 50 percent in the provincial metropolis.

Three years of records at Lady Reading Hospital have shown that since the inception of the initiative in 2019 to neutralise stray dogs, the cases of dog bites have been drastically reduced, to a figure of 3459 in 2021 from 8732 in 2019. In 2020, 5394 dog bite cases were reported at the hospital.

Project Director Dr Masoom Ali Shah informed, “The decrease in dog bite cases is an indication of a reduction in the population of stray canines and the achievement of the objective for which the project was launched.”

Dr Mosoom said that the drive was introduced in Peshawar as a replication of the WHO-recommended programme of trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) to control rabies and the overpopulation of street dogs.

The initiative was a pilot project, and after evaluation of its encouraging results, the Livestock and Dairy Development Department has decided to extend it to all the divisional headquarters in the province, according to Dr Ali Shah.

According to Masoom, the project contributed to a drop in rabies cases at Lady Reading Hospital from 8000 to 3000 during that time. He said, “The TNVR push helped in the transformation of rabies control policy from the brutal practise of dog culling to neutralising the animal. This helped us achieve positive results in reference to public health.”

The Livestock Department constructed a cutting-edge operation theatre in Peshawar as part of the TNVR project, with the ability to run many dogs on a regular basis. After surgery, a reflector-equipped collar is fastened around the dog’s neck, and a tattoo is imprinted on the dog’s ear to identify it as having had surgery, the project director stated.

During the operation for neutralising the dog, the dog is also vaccinated against rabies, and in the case of finding a rabit dog, the animal is euthanized in the larger interest of public safety. The project for the expansion of dogs neutralising in KP is estimated at a cost of Rs. 40.7 million, and the summary is awaiting approval of funds to start work, Masoom Ali added.

Now the neutralisation of stray dogs will start in cities including Mardan, Swat, Kohat, Bannu, Abbotabad, and DI Khan, he added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Animal Rights Advocacy Group (PARAG), an association of civil and animal rights activists, has appreciated the transition of the anti-rabies control programme from dog culling to neutralising.

“That is indeed the right direction for containing rabies and the population of stray dogs, as recommended by WHO,” observed PARAG Chairman Dr Ayeza Haider.

Dr Ayeza insisted on mass vaccination of dogs to prevent rabies infection and stressed upon the departments involved in the process to vaccinate every animal during the operation. PARAG has also approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the inhuman practise of killing dogs to control population and the spread of rabies, she said.

It’s a welcome decision by the KP government to replicate the practise in the whole province and would show positive results in reducing cruelty against animals, Haider added. APP