In April 2013 the United Nations Food & Agricultural Organization granted Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika an award to recognize ‘the impressive investment and excellent progress made in Bali on the control of rabies, both in humans and in dogs.’” In Pastika’s acceptance speech, it was stated that ‘Specifically, the movement away from dog elimination and towards dog vaccination was the essential change in 2010 that enabled such amazing progress to be achieved.
So why is Governor Made Mangku Pastika now ordering the culling of dogs? After the vaccination program which began in 2009, human rabies deaths dropped to eight in 2012, one in 2013, and ONE in 2014. In 2014 the Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika ordered the culling of 300,000 dogs and is still ordering the culling. In 2015 at least 12 people have died.. How many more Balinese and their beautiful dogs have to die before Made Mangku Pastika will listen to the World Health Organisation and implement a vaccination program again.
What makes it worse is that they are not targeting stray unvacinated street dogs but every dog they come accross, including loved family pets. More importantly this killing of vacinated dogs is destroying the herd immunity and increasing the risk of rabies not decreasing it! They are killed in the most inhumane way, posined using strychnine darts, which leads to a slow and painful death for the dogs.
Please join me in asking Bali Govenor Made Mangku Pastika to stop the culling and start a new vaccination program which will lead to a rabies free Bali.
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