- He said one of the approaches they use towards reducing rabies infections was conducting mass anti-rabies vaccination.
- Vet Treks Foundation animals specialist Dr Lisa Mc Carthy said they are training Kenyan veterinarians on spaying and sterilisation of dogs and cats.
Image: GEORGE OWITI
More than 1, 000 dogs and cats have been spayed to reduce rabies infections in Machakos county.
The animals were spayed during a four day neuter campaign exercise conducted by Africa Network for Animal Welfare at Masii town in Mwala subcounty.
ANAW programmes manager Dr Dennis Bahati said the free exercise was intended to control dogs and cats population.
"Today we are in Masii Town to conduct a free sterilisation exercise, spay-neuter targeting dogs and cats," Bahati said.
"The reason is to control stray dogs and overpopulation in the county. It is also meant to reduce cases of rabies infections."
Bahati said the exercise was prompted by the high cases of rabies infections in Kenya. He said 2, 000 people in Kenya were infected with the disease annually.
"Rabies is a fatal viral disease that kills 2,000 Kenyans annually and almost 60,000 globally. It's important to create awareness and sensitise the community on the dangers," Bahati said.
He said one of the approaches they use towards reducing rabies infections was conducting mass anti-rabies vaccination.
"Also coupled with extensive community sensitisation on why it's important to take care of dogs and cats and bringing them to clinics for check-ups," Bahati said.
Bahati said they have partnered with key stakeholders that included the county government of Machakos, US-based Vet Treks Foundation, Kenya Society for Protection of Animals and private veterinarians from Nairobi and Machakos counties.
"Today was our last day in the four-day exercise. We sterilised 100 dogs and cats on the first day, but managed to surpass our target of 1, 000 animals at the end of the exercise," Bahati said.
He said they considered the county for the exercise since it was flagged by the government to be more prone to rabies infections.
"We chose Machakos because the 2014 National Strategy for Rabies Elimination indicated that Machakos and four other counties are among the areas with high incidences of rabies," Bahati said.
The other four counties prone to rabies infections according to the 2014 study include Makueni, Kitui, Kisumu and Siaya.
Bahati said there were lots of misconceptions and misinformation about the exercise hence some Kenyans don't want their animals to be sterilised.
He said the exercise is important since it helps reduce the number of stray animals in communities that pose a risk of biting people, especially children.
Vet Treks Foundation animals specialist Dr Lisa Mc Carthy said they are training Kenyan veterinarians on spaying and sterilisation of dogs and cats.
"I'm a specialist in spaying and sterilisation of dogs and cats. We are conducting surgery on the animals so that they can no longer reproduce," Mc Carthy said.
"We are working with Africa Network for Animal Welfare which is developing a programme on population control. This is important because there is a rabies problem in Kenya. Sadly, the disease mostly affects children."
Mc Carthy said the solutions to eliminate rabies in Kenya include vaccination of dogs and cats and decreasing the animal population on the streets.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
Image: GEORGE OWITI