Beware of rabid cats also – vet

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Veterinary Medicines is warning the public to beware of rabid cats after discovering a pet cat in Cebu City that was found positive of rabies.

City Veterinarian Alice Utlang has also decided to include pet cats in the vaccination as one way to protect the city residents from rabies. She said her office still has enough anti-rabies vaccines that can accommodate thousands of pet dogs and cats.

It was not immediately known how the cat got rabies, but there is a possibility that the virus was transmitted to the cat when it fought a rabid dog.  Utlang, however, said none of the pet dogs in Barangay Parian have rabies.

According to Utlang, the cat bit its owner days before it died. Worried with what happened to her pet, the owner quickly had herself vaccinated with anti-rabies and submitted the dead animal for laboratory examination.

Utlang’s office has recorded 12 animal rabies cases last year, lesser compared to 15 cases in 2011, but there was no person in Cebu City that was afflicted with rabies during these past two years.

Statistics show that in 2011, there were 5,456 persons bitten by dogs in Cebu City and the figure had went down to 5,137 last year, but none of the bite victims were afflicted with rabies.

Utlang said her personnel conducted free anti-rabies vaccinations in 80 barangays of the city, including those in the mountains, to ensure that the spread of rabies will be minimized, if not totally stopped.

“Daghan pa kaayo ta og mga anti-rabies vaccine nga nahabilin mao nga apilon na nato sa pag-injection ang mga iring,” said Utlang, who said that the vaccines are still part of the donations from the Humane Society International, an organization of animal lovers.

Utlang personally received the plaque from the Humane Society International when she and the city were given an Outstanding Animals Protection Educator Award abroad last year.

The city has an existing ordinance requiring caretakers of dogs to register their pets and to have them vaccinated.  Utlang said her office had already filed cases against 19 residents of Barangay Mabolo who refused to comply with the provisions of the law.

First, the City Hall personnel will just issue citations to the owners of dogs who failed to present the documents to prove that their pets have been vaccinated.  If they still fail to comply with the law, then Utlang will file the necessary case.

Of all barangays in Cebu City, Guadalupe, being the biggest barangays, has the most number of dogs.  Utlang said of the more than 2,700 dogs in Guadalupe, over 2,400 of them have been vaccinated already.

But the records showed that while many dogs had been vaccinated with anti-rabies free of charge, only 2,405 had been registered with the Department of Veterinary Medicines.

The office had stopped apprehending dogs, unless the barangay officials ask for operations against the stray animals in their territorial jurisdictions.  —/BRP (FREEMAN)