Dogstar Foundation World Rabies Day Events 2010

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

Dogstar believe Sri Lanka can be Rabies free within a generation and as well as our day to day free vaccination service and our commitment to funding Rabies Research we are also proud to a World rabies Day Partner. This year we are providing free life saving vaccines and sterilisation's for dogs and cats via 2 special outreach clinics on Sept 25th & 26th 2010

 

Clinic 1 Saturday 25th September 2010

Will be held at Beragala Temple in memory of Dogstars Midge. The Monk at Beragala offered Midge a home at his Temple along with a number of other vunerable street dogs.

 

Beragala Temple dogs June 2010

Beragala village is also the home of Peggy the street dog that Dogstar provided life saving surgery for recently again at the Monks request. Peggy has now been offered a loving home by a local villager and we cannot think of a more fitting way to honour Midge and thank the kind hearted Monk and local villagers than by offering them urgently needed Vaccinations and sterilisation's for the local animals

 

 

Clinic 2 Sunday 26th September 2010

Will be held in the village of Mahintane about 1 km away from our base. Facebook fans from last year would know it better as the village where Podi Nangi and Kitty live

 

Podi Nangi and Kitty

We have provided free Veterinary care to some animals in Mahintane previously and as a result more households have expressed a desire to have their animals vaccinated and sterilised. Mahintane is also home to many young children who are most at risk from dog bites often due to a lack of understanding of dogs needs and behaviours. The children will be encouraged to attend the clinic to learn more about our work and age specific handouts about Rabies and bite prevention will be provided.

 

Dogstars Volunteer Vet Kate is flying over from the UK this year with Sam to join Mo, Dr P , Sampath and the team from Perideniya Universtary to staff both clinics. Local photographer and Dogstar volunteer Aravinda will also be joining the team this year to capture both days in his unique style of photography

 

[Mrs B]

It is fantastic to hear what you are doing for World Rabies Day - what a fabulous effort.

 

I'm going to print this information off and put it up with the rest of the bits and pieces I have by my fundraising table for you this month.

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

It is fantastic to hear what you are doing for World Rabies Day - what a fabulous effort.

 

I'm going to print this information off and put it up with the rest of the bits and pieces I have by my fundraising table for you this month.

 

 

 

Thank you , the Rabies part of our work is not very sexy but its so so so important and World Rabies Day helps publicise the work that thousands of groups are doing worldwide to rid the world of this vaccine preventable killer

 

 

 

 

[Karen]

I can't imagine what it must be like to live with the fear of rabies, it makes you realise how lucky we are and how important Dogstar's work is.

 

I hope it's not inappropriate to ask a question? Assuming that you vaccinate dogs against rabies - is it a one off injection or is it an annual thing?

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

 

 

I hope it's not inappropriate to ask a question? Assuming that you vaccinate dogs against rabies - is it a one off injection or is it an annual thing?

 

 

 

Not inappropriate at all , for the dogs and cats its a single vaccination plus yearly revaccination and a booster if they are bitten by an unvaccinated animal

 

for us its a series of pre exposure jabs , revaccinations every 3 years and boosters if we are bitten by a unvaccinated animal

[Karen]

Thank you

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

meant to say its slightly different for dogs in the UK for example as here rabies antibody level itire testing is fairly accessible and there are no real concerns about failure of the cold chain

 

in Sri Lanka antibody testing is not readily available so the guildines are that dogs get revaccinated annually. There are a number of options of brands as well and we now use Rabisin vaccine which is not the cheapest but we have a high level of confidence in their cold chain

 

 

 

 

 

[Mrs B]

Sorry Sam.

 

"Cold chain"

 

I do like to keep learning but fear I'm being a bit stupid here.

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

Wikipedia says ( because they explain it better than me )

A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of storage and distribution activities which maintain a given temperature range.

Rabies Vaccine becomes unusable if it reaches room temperature for 30 minutes , additionally if the cold chain is too cold or vaccines are placed directly against ice packs they can freeze and again are spoilt

In the past we have had to dispose our vaccines after prolonged power cuts ( we don't have a generator backup ) but we need to trust the vaccines have been correctly handled up to the point we collect them

[Mrs B]

Actually I think you back up the Wiki explanation brilliantly.

 

I think I kind of understand. Certainly more than I did this time last week.

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

World Rabies Day website have put us on their front-page !

 

http://www.worldrabiesday.org/

[griff]

:biggrin: well done dogstar :biggrin:

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

we have a justgiving page for helping funding these clinics

http://www.justgiving.com/Dogstar-Foundation-World-Rabies-Day-2010

If you are on facebook or twitter can you help share the link as well please as we want as many people as possible to hear about the World Rabies Day events worldwide

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

just to put what we do in context a bit more , Bali currently has an outbreak of Rabies and 93 people have died this year

 

http://www.balidiscovery.com/messages/message.asp?Id=6298

 

 

Rabies Death Toll in Bali Now Put at 93Bali Provincial Government Insists that Culling and Inoculation of Island's Dog Population Must Press Ahead.

(9/6/2010) Bali's Rabies epidemic continues to plague the island. According to Radar Bali, a total of 93 people have died from suspected rabies spread from dog bites, despite massive expenditures and efforts to inoculate pet dogs and eliminate stray animals.

 

Ketut Teneng, the spokesman for the Bali provincial government, said that 93 people have died after suffering dog bites. Of that total, he said, 41 of those deaths were clinically linked to rabies through laboratory tests on the victims. The remaining victims were buried without aid of laboratory test but after exhibiting symptoms consistent with a rabies infection.

 

The number of new dog bites reported in Bali remains very high. On an average day 165 people are bitten by dogs in Bali, adding to widespread fear among visitors and local of the danger of contamination with a potentially fatal disease.

 

Teneng said the elimination of stray dogs must continue, adding "this does not have to done by government officials who kill the dogs, but also by the public who undertake the elimination of stray animals."

 

Saying the threat of infection is before "our very eyes," Teneng pointed to the high number of stray dogs living in Bali resulting in a greater risk of dog bites and possible infection with rabies. "We have a clear choice, do you want to get rabies or not? If we allow the dog population to grow it means the chance of getting rabies is also high," said Teneng.

 

Teneng said that for the year 2010 through September 2nd, a total of 37,901 dog bites have been inflicted on Bali residents. From that total, 34,485 victims have been treated with rabies anti-serum. These figures show a dramatic increase over 2009 when only 21,806 dog bite were reported of which 18,825 victims received anti-rabies serum.

 

According to the chief health officer for Bali, Dr. Nyoman Sutedja, the costs of fighting rabies in Bali is substantial. In 2009 the provincial government of Bali spent Rp. 6.5 billion, Bali regencies Rp. 3.5 billion and the central government contributed Rp. 15 billion to Bali's anti-rabies campaign resulting in total expenditures of Rp. 25 billion (US$2.7 million).

 

In 2010 the total spent in combating rabies is expected to rise.