BACOLOD City – The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) urged local government units (LGUs) to allocate funds for anti-rabies vaccines in Negros Occidental.
“The province lacks vaccines for rabies and LGUs should not only rely on the provincial government,” said PVO Animal Health and Meat Inspection Services Division head Dr. Ryan Janoya on Tuesday.
Janoya said the Bureau of Animal Industry can only provide 500 vials of anti-rabies vaccines for the province this year.
“We are doing visits to mayors and other local officials encouraging them to allocate budget on anti-rabies vaccines,” he added.
The dog population in Negros Occidental, excluding Bacolod City, is around 262,000, according to PVO. The number is based only on household survey, and does not include stray dogs.
At least 6 percent or almost 16,000 dogs have been vaccinated as of Jan. this year.
“This is still minimal as we have increased the target vaccination to 80 percent,” Janoya said. (With PNA/PN)
