Why no mass rabies vaccination exercise in Kapit?

KAPIT: The people here, especially pet owners, are concerned that the Department of Veterinary Services ( DVS) has not conducted rabies vaccination in Kapit considering that there are hundreds of stray dogs and cats in and around the town and in the residential areas.

A concerned pet owner, who only wished to be identified as Ah Poh, contacted The Borneo Post on the matter yesterday.

“Is it that pet animals like dogs and cats in Kapit are safe and free from rabies? Elsewhere the DVS conducted free mass vaccination programmes, but why not in Kapit? In February, there was a talk on rabies but there was no follow-up. What happened?” he asked.

He recalled that on Feb 9 this year, more than 100 people including heads of government agencies and departments, councillors, community and nongovernmental organisation ( NGO) leaders, chairmen of village security and development committees attended a talk on rabies and its prevention at the Kapit Civic Centre.

He remembered that the one- day talk was organised by Kapit District Council, which among others was to encourage direct involvement of the various government agencies, community and non-governmental organisation leaders in the prevention and control of rabies, to engage the local community in a joint responsibility to combat rabies, strengthen joint ventures and collaboration between government agencies, community leaders and NGOs for the cleanliness of Kapit, to reduce the number of stray dogs and to inculcate and create awareness among the public of the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of the town and residential areas.