Avail of free anti-rabies shots for pets, DA urges owners

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) urged the public on Monday to avail of free vaccinations for pets to curb rabies.

In a speech during the rabies awareness month culminating event at the DA main office in Quezon City, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Constante Dante Palabrica said the disease poses dreadful harm to people, killing at least one Filipino each day.

"Ngayong 2024, walompung mahigit na ngayon ang namamatay sa rabies. Kaya ang BAI, ang DA Livestock Division ay nakatuon ngayon para sa rabies (This 2024, more than 80 deaths have been reported due to rabies. That's why the Bureau of Animal Industry, the DA Livestock Division is focusing on rabies)," he said.

He added that prevention is better since shots of anti-rabies doses are costly.

"One each a day, gumagapang iyong virus sa tao (the virus is infecting humans). So, it'll take a month or two, mamamatay iyong tao. At magpapabakuna ka naman ng anti-rabies sa tao, napakamahal (the person will die. And when you have anti-rabies shots for humans, it's very expensive)," Palabrica said.

As part of the campaign launching themed Rabies Free, Aso at Pusa, Kaligtasan ng Pamilyang Pilipino (Dogs and Cats, Safety of Filipino Families), the DA provided free anti-rabies vaccinations to more than 50 dogs and cats at the DA gymnasium.

DA Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano, meanwhile, vowed to continue intensified information and prevention measures against the spread of rabies.

"It is considered a neglected prognosis as it is 100 percent preventable through vaccination and the Department is committed to strengthening this program," he said in a separate speech.

According to the DOH, rabies is one of the most acutely fatal infections in the country, taking at least 200 Filipino lives each year.

In 2022, around 370 rabies-related deaths were reported in the country, the highest since 2007.

The Health department, in partnership with the DA, Department of Education, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Food and Drug Administration aims to eradicate human rabies by 2027 and declare the Philippines as rabies-free by 2030. (PNA)