Stopping rabies by vaccinating dogs around the world!
Learn about our work on one of our projects, Mission Rabies!
Young Vets, at WVS we have a project called Mission Rabies, where we are trying to end a disease called rabies! We do this by vaccinating dogs in countries like Malawi and Cambodia.
Our amazing teams have just finished 2024's vaccination campaign covering Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, and surrounding provinces. Find out more about it in the upcoming Young Vets Club Magazine!
Why dogs?
You may be wondering why we focus our vaccination campaigns on our waggy tailed friends...
The disease is deadly and can be passed from dogs to humans, most commonly by an infected dog bite. By vaccinating dogs to protect them from the disease, we can stop the spread of rabies!
Our vaccination process: catch - vaccinate - mark - release
Interested in knowing more about our vaccination process?
There are a few key stages explained below:
Catching a furry friend
Many dogs will let us or their owner hold them for vaccination - sometimes they need to be won over by a treat or two! For the hard to catch dogs, we have skilled animal handlers who use catching nets (as pictured below). This is the safest way to catch free roaming dogs and we do this quickly to minimise the stress for our friends!
A life-saving vaccination
Giving a dog a vaccine is quick and painless, over in just a few wags of the tail. The vaccine we use is safe for all ages and can be given under the skin or directly into the muscle. It is important that as many dogs as possible receive the vaccination.
Marking and recording data
Every dog vaccinated is marked with red or green paint. But Why?
This helps our teams to quickly identify a vaccinated dog as we go through an area. This paint is harmless to the dogs and washes off after several days. We then put this information into our app, so we know how many dogs have been vaccinated!
Release and repeat
After vaccination, free roaming dogs are released back into the area and owned dogs remain with their owners. We vaccinate every year to ensure that we vaccinate enough dogs in every year!
Join the adventure!
Want to find out more about rabies, and what you can do to help stop the spread of this horrible disease?
Sign up your young animal lover for Young Vets Club! Your young adventurer will be part of our work to help animals where nobody else can.
