ANDREW MUKOMA
ZAMBEZI Animal Welfare Services (ZAWS) and the Livingstone City Council (LCC) have partnered to embark on a dog vaccination exercise in the Tourist Capital.
ZAWS Founder and Executive Director, Lynne Mendelson, said that the exercise was targeting about 600 dogs in the city to be registered and vaccinated against rabies.
Ms Mendelson told the Daily Nation in an interview that the outreach which commenced yesterday would be done in eight locations across the city.
She said that for dog owners who live in Maramba and Libuyu Townships, the exercise would take place at Maramba Community Hall adding that vaccinating dogs against rabies was a legal requirement as the disease was deadly.
Ms Mendelson explained that the exercise aims to prevent human beings from contracting rabies as a result of dog bites.
“Rabies is a devastating disease that is estimated to result in the death of approximately 60,000 people every year. Most humans contract rabies following a bite from an infected dog and it has been demonstrated that provided a large enough proportion of the dog population is vaccinated; rabies incidence can be markedly reduced in both humans and dogs,” she explained.
And Council Senior Education Health Officer, Magnus Malasa, said the local authority was happy
Mr Malasa however said if the target was not reached, the council would have no option than to destroy unregistered and unvaccinated dogs as they were a danger to society.
