The Office of the Provincial Veterinarian in Benguet is targeting to vaccinate 35,000 dogs in the province by the end of the year.
Provincial Veterinarian Miriam Tiongan reported last week her office has vaccinated 5,000 dogs despite the threats posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tiongan said her office has targeted the months of February to May for the anti-rabies vaccination but it was delayed due to the pandemic.
The provincial government approved recently the hiring of four vaccinators that could resume the vaccination in various municipalities by September. La Trinidad also hired its own vaccinators to go around the barangays.
“We hope our situation gets better by then. Rabies is one of the concerns when it comes to diseases so we need to act to prevent dogs from transferring it to humans,” Tiongan said.
She said there are responsible dog owners who bring their pets to be vaccinated in their office while a number of pet owners have requested for home service from the OPVET.
“I tell my staff to use personal protective equipment if they need to conduct home service,” she said.
The province has not recorded human rabid case, which Tiongan hopes would be maintained in Benguet.
The anti-rabies drive of the province is in line with the implementation of Republic Act 9842, or otherwise known as the Anti Rabies Act of 2007.
Tiongan said the OPVET office is open from Monday to Friday. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 20, 2024
