Happy Valentines Day! We hope you’re taking the time to remind those you love about how much you appreciate them.
How about we throw in a spanner into the works this year by reminding the pets we keep; how much we appreciate them?
Take on our “I promise…” challenge on our Facebook post and share your love for your pet.
Man’s best friend
Dogs have evolved beside us for decades, helping us farm, hunt and even by providing companionship.
In other scenarios they’ve been used to help with autistic children, preventing poaching incidences in the wild,terrorisim, security, contraband detection and even by providing care for sick people.
Truly Life’s Better with Dogs and there’s no better time than this to show them our appreciation.
Culling of dogs
With evolution there’s been substantial growth in both people and the animals they keep. This means that even dog numbers have spiked in number within communities.
This has brought about outbreaks of diseases such as rabies and other zoonotic diseases. Due to fear and the need to protect themselves, people have resulted to the killing of dogs in a bid to control disease spread
Every year, 10 million dogs are poisoned, stoned and electrocuted to death, in an attempt to stop the spread of rabies, which kills 59,000 people each year.
But is culling the answer?
Responsible Dog Ownership
Culling is not a humane or responsible way to manage dog populations. The best way to protect dogs and people is to vaccinate them.
This means responsible dog ownership which entails feeding dogs a balanced diet, grooming them, vaccinating them, providing proper shelter and seeking medical attention.
Why vaccinate dogs?
Just like vaccination helps to prevent diseases in humans, so does it help in preventing dogs from diseases such as rabies.
This in turn reduces infection cases among humans improving human – animal relationships. When 70% of dogs are vaccinated in a population, it eliminates the disease within a population.
We've achieved amazing things for dogs
Thanks to you, we've been able to help dogs across Africa. Here's just some of what we've accomplished:
- We have freely vaccinated, spayed and neutered dogs owned by low income slum dwellers and street families who direly needed healthcare for their pets but can’t afford it. The most recent one being in 2019 at Kibra Slums where over 900 dogs and cats were vaccinated and over 118 spayed and neutered.
- We’ve sponsored vaccinations to curb dog disease transmission to wild animals. This has then reduced the risk of disease outbreak from communities living adjacent to wild game reserves and national parks. We’ve partnered with Enonkishu Conservancy to deliver this programme that was initiated in 2014. The most recent one was in December 2019 where 547 dogs,193 cats and 12 donkeys were vaccinated totalling to 752 animals. With 6 dogs undergoing a surgical procedure to sterilize them.
- We have vaccinated 70% of dogs in Makueni county, Kenya, so far, which is the amount needed to eliminate rabies.
- We’ve influenced policy makers in Kenya and Sierra Leone to include legislation and policies that guide on dog welfare.
There's still a lot of work to do
Millions of dogs are still suffering all over world. We need your support to create better lives for them all.
Ask your county government to make rabies vaccinations free.
Culling is not a humane or responsible way to manage dog populations. The best way to protect dogs and people is to vaccinate them.