DVMF conducts free house-to-house anti-rabies vax

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) has been conducting free house-to-house anti-rabies vaccination for households with pets in Cebu city as part of their Animal Rabies Control Program.

After the celebration of "Asong Pinoy Day", the DVMF continues to encourage pet owners to utilize this ongoing program to combat rabies on pedigree dogs and also for "irong bisaya" which mostly has unrecognized breeds.

Dr. Jessica Maribojoc, DVMF head, stated that their aim is to fully vaccinate all animals in Cebu City.

Their efforts started in 2019 prioritizing the areas that have high-risks of rabies infections and continuing on to this date, vaccinating not only pets, but also stray animals as they launch their program from barangay to barangay.

They are currently focusing their efforts at Calamba on July 19 and will be at Kinasang-an Pardo by July 20, where high-risk areas for rabies infections are recorded, according to Maribojoc.

So far, the free anti-rabies vaccination program has reached an estimated 40 barangays in Cebu City, alternating from barangays classified as high-risk areas to requested and low-risk areas.

"Kung mag-alaga man gani og iro, they have to make sure nga kaya nila kay raising a pet is a lifetime commitment and responsibility, dili lang nga mag-alaga sila kay cute siya but modili na pagdako kay mama-ak na,” said Maribojoc, making sure that all animals are taken cared of properly by their owners.

Registered pet owners can also avail of deworming and vitamin supplementation in their office as part of the program.

The DVMF head mentioned another program that they are implementing that offers additional services with varying registration fees such as annual and lifetime registrations.

Lifetime registration caters to all services including anti-rabies vaccine and booster shot, vitamins supplementation, deworming, embedded microchip for tracing, neutering and spaying. — Abigail Joyce E. Ecoben, UV Intern, GMR (FREEMAN)