THE Bacolod City Veterinary Office (CVO) targets to immunize 70 percent of the estimated 100,000 dog population by October this year to achieve herd immunity and prevent the rabies outbreak.
Dr. John Michael Cabuguason, the assistant city veterinarian, said on Monday that they are conducting mass dog vaccination for free in the barangays, but pet owners can bring their dogs to the CVO to get immunized for a minimal fee of PHP50.
“Right now, our procurement is about 60,000 doses on a staggered basis. We hope to finish the mass dog vaccination by September or October and saturate all the 61 barangays,” Cabuguason told the Philippine News Agency.
He added that a part of the 70 percent is available through private animal clinics, but CVO ensures an allocation of at least 60,000 doses to reach the target dog population.
Barangay health workers assist the CVO staff during the house-to-house mass dog vaccination.
Cabuguason said they are also training more personnel to become vaccinators.
“During the mass dog vaccination, our staff go house-to-house in the barangays. We allocate one day for each purok,” he added.
Cabuguason encouraged pet owners who are still hesitant to have their dogs administered with the rabies vaccines to avail of the free mass vaccination.
“We would like to assure them the vaccine we are using is safe. It is used worldwide. Globally, it is one of the top vaccines. It will not cause illness in dogs,” he said.
As of the last week of April, some 5,145 dogs and cats were vaccinated in Barangay Taculing, while 3,025 animals were administered rabies shots in Barangay Singcang-Airport.
In Barangay Tangub, among those who availed of the vaccination is the pet of fur parent Beverly Zamora, who thanked the CVO team for administering the free anti-rabies shots.
Most animals in their area availed the rabies shots for the first time.
Pet owner Andrew Salon acknowledged the initiative of the CVO in protecting the public from rabies transmission.
The Provincial Rabies Laboratory data showed that Bacolod City recorded one positive rabies case in dogs in 2023. (PNA)
