After receiving reports that five people in Bali’s Bangli Regency were bitten by stray dogs, the local government stepped in, vaccinating some dogs and eliminating others.
Local residents brought “safe” dogs in for the anti-rabies vaccine, while other dogs believed to have interacted with alleged rabid dogs were eliminated, according to Bangli officials.
Up to 29 dogs in Bangli were given the anti-rabies vaccine, while 14 dogs were, says Susut District Animal Health director, Dewa Agung Ayu Okawati.
“Fourteen dogs were eliminated because they were known to have interacted with stray dogs,” Okawati said, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
“Before the dogs were eliminated, five villagers were bitten in Pengiangan Village and Selat Village,” he added.
Unfortunately in Bali where the street dog population is large and rabies endemic, it doesn’t take much more than fear to trigger dog culling, despite repeated government and nonprofit efforts to humanely vaccinate and sterilize in place of elimination.
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