Bali’s overpopulated with unwanted street dogs and is facing a rabies problem, but simply mass culling dogs is not the way to get these issues under control, says the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA).
According to BAWA founder and director Janice Girardi, Bali’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Animal Health (Disnakeswan) needs to rethink its elimination plans.
“Elimination must be done selectively, so that dogs that are already vaccinated and sterilized are not killed,” Girardi said in Denpasar on Monday, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
She added that ultimately dog populations will lose out and diseases are more likely to thrive if dogs already vaccinated and immune to rabies and other dieseases are eliminated. And at the end of the day, experience in similar situations around the world has proven culling to be cruel and ineffective, Girardi has formerly said.
Moreover, Girardi urged Disnakeswan Bali to expand its vaccination programs to cover even more dogs in Bali in order to suppress rabies. We sure hope her pleas don’t fall on deaf ears.
