Dog owners asked to tighten leashes as rabies claims 3 lives

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) chief Ma. Soccoro Quiñon on Thursday called on the public, particularly pet owners, to secure their animal friends after three persons died from rabies via animal bites this year.

Quiñon made the call after a 3-year-old recently died after being bitten in the face by an unleashed dog.

The other two cases include another child in San Dionisio town in January, and of a 42-year-old male who was bitten last February and manifested rabies in April.

Quiñon also asked local government units (LGU) in the province to purchase anti-rabies vaccines for dogs, citing the quick depletion of vaccines from the Department of Health.

She suggested that LGUs should share counterpart funds with the provincial government’s sponsorship of vaccinations for 35% of the domesticated dog population.

“Unfortunately, rabies progresses rapidly [inside the body] because these are furious types of rabies. In just 11 days, the child died even if [the dog] was vaccinated. The viral load may have been great,” Quiñon told the media.

“Our campaign is that pet owners should be responsible because there are many pet owners whose dogs just roam around. We also ask [local government units] to purchase rabies vaccines for dogs because one vial is P400, already equivalent to 10 dogs, as compared to when a person gets bitten, the government will have to spend P5,000 on that bitten person,” she added.

Another suggestion was for LGUs to set up pounds to contain stray dogs which are more prone to rabies and may be unvaccinated.

Quiñon hopes that with these suggestions, Iloilo province could be the first rabies-free province in the region.

Guimaras was previously a rabies-free province, but Bureau of Animal Industry data from its website said that the island province’s status was “for reapplication”.

Quiñon said 20 island barangays in Ajuy and Concepcion towns have been declared rabies-free, and they are also seeking to declare island barangays in Carles town.

IPHO data indicated 12 rabies deaths in the province in 2021 and 5 in 2020.