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Free castration, vaccination to mark Rabies Awareness Month in Aklan

KALIBO, Aklan (PIA) --  The province of Aklan, through the Office off the Provincial Veterinarian (OPVET), will be marking Rabies Awareness Month this March by conducting  dog castration and anti-rabies vaccination on dogs and cats.

OPVET-Aklan Veterinary Consultant Dr. Cathlyn Castro said the free castration will be conducted at the Walk-In Clinic at the Capitol Grounds on March 24, 2023.

She added that only the first pre-registered 20 dogs will be accommodated during the said schedule which had undergone pre-assessment to check if these animals have underlying health conditions.

“Dogs to be castrated should have been vaccinated against rabies two weeks prior to the operation,” Castro revealed during PIA-Aklan’s weekly radio program here.

A dog owner (left) holds her dog as it is being vaccinated against rabies during the Dog Show and Rabies Awareness Program organized by the Aklan Medical Society, Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPVET), and Aklan State University (ASU) School of Veterinary Medicine. (File Photo Courtesy of OPVET-Aklan)

The dogs to be castrated must also be at least three to five months old.

Vaccination of dogs and cats against rabies will also be conducted in the same venue, according to Castro.

She said that last year, four cases of dogs with rabies were listed by OPVET-Aklan.

On the part of human casualties in Aklan due to the virus, four died last year.

With the observance of Rabies Awareness Month, she also called on Aklanons to be responsible pet owners whether the dogs have breed or are Asong Pinoy or Aspins.

“When we are dog owners, we must be ready to shell out expenses for their deworming, food, vitamins, and vaccines,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, Castro said that personnel of OPVET-Aklan are now mostly deployed at

Aklan borders in Altavas, Nabas, Buruanga and at the Caticlan Jetty Port to check incoming vehicles and luggage which might contain pork products or pork-based products coming from other parts of the country.

This is in connection with the latest Executive Order No. 21 issued by Governor Jose Enrique Miraflores, which bans the entry of live swine, its products and by-products in the province to prevent African Swine Fever from entering Aklan and affecting the province’s hog industry.

Presently in Western Visayas, only Aklan, Antique and Negros Occidental are still ASF-free. (JBG/VGV/PIA6 Aklan)

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