In bid to stop stray cull, global group offers 50,000 shots of rabies vaccine to Penang

GEORGE TOWN, Sept 22 — International non-governmental organisation Worldwide Veterinary Services (WVS) will supply 50,000 doses of rabies vaccines to Penang for free, pending endorsement by the state government and the authorities.

The “Stop The Killing, Start Vaccinating” coalition issued a statement today stating the WVS’ intention to supply the vaccines and also to assist by providing manpower for mass vaccination of all dogs in the state.

“They need time to make preparations for the implementation of their Mission Rabies programme and if endorsement is further delayed they may only be able arrive later this year because they will first need to begin applying for approval from authorities such as Veterinary Services Department, Health Ministry and immigration,” the coalition said in the statement.

The coalition held a telephone conference meeting yesterday with WVS chief executive officer Dr Luke Gamble and Penang state executive council for health and agriculture Dr Afif Bahardin.

They thanked Dr Afif for chairing the meeting that was also attended by DAP’s Pulau Tikus state assemblyman Yap Soo Huey, Penang Veterinary Services director Dr Siti Salmiah Tahir and representatives from the coalition.

In the meeting, Gamble confirmed that WVS can immediately arrange for delivery of 50,000 vaccines and, if necessary, enough manpower to fully conduct a mass vaccination programme in Penang.

“Concurrently, they will train our local veterinary personnel and volunteers on how to conduct mass vaccination and how to perform regular surveillance and they will also immediately provide know-how on how to conduct public education programs on how to detect rabies and what to do.

“If Penang agrees, WVS commits to assisting Penang in training, knowledge transfer and resources for a period of three years,” the coalition said.

They believed the 50,000 doses of vaccine will be sufficient for strays as well as pets.

Due to the required paperwork and applications that needed to be done to bring in the vaccines and mobilize manpower, the vaccines and the team may only arrive in Penang at the end of the year, the coalition said.

Later in a press conference, Dr Afif said the meeting was a fruitful one and that the state and the authorities are awaiting the proposed plans by WVS.

“We will have another meeting to discuss this,” he said.

The “Stop The Killing, Start Vaccinating” coalition thanked the state government for taking the step to communicate with them and WVS and pledged to assist the state to save the stray dogs as soon as possible.

According to the Veterinary Services Department, a total 342 stray dogs were killed since the culling operation started on September 16.

Of the 342 dogs, only 50 samples were taken to be sent to the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh, Perak for diagnosis on rabies.

So far, only three stray dogs, who had bitten humans in Penang, were tested positive for rabies and no humans have been tested positive for rabies so far.