SERIAN: Pet owners have been advised to vaccinate their dogs and cats against rabies.
Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) Sarawak director Dr Adrian Susin Ambud appealed to them to do so at the nearest veterinary clinic or government veterinary office.
This, he said is very important because prevention is better than cure.
“It is compulsory under Section 40 (of the Veterinary Public Health Ordinance) that you annually vaccinate your dogs and cats against rabies.”
He told reporters this at the rabies vaccination and registration programme in conjunction with the Rabies in Borneo Conference 2022 at the community hall here on Saturday (Sept 17).
The event which included free neutering, focused on licensing and vaccination of dogs.
About 60 dogs were registered to get their rabies vaccination while the local council managed to license 16 dogs.
Dr Adrian said the programme was one of the efforts to make the public aware that rabies is still present.
“I think this year we managed to vaccinate almost 10,000 but the number is a bit low compared to last year where we recorded as many as 40,000.
“So far this year,from a total of 148 samples collected 31 were positive for rabies.
“Out of 31 samples, 25 were dogs and six cats,” he said.
Up to this year, 72 areas in Sarawak have been declared as rabies areas since 2017.
There are seven in Kuching, four in Samarahan, Serian (22), Sri Aman (6), Betong (3), Sarikei (5), Sibu (3), Kapit (1), Mukah (6), Bintulu (5), Miri (8), and Limbang (2).
