THE Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) in Negros Occidental, through its Rabies Control Action Plan for 2019, has designed activities and strategies as measures to lessen, if not eliminate, cases of the deadly virus in the province.

Under the plan, PVO will conduct an inventory of available canine rabies vaccine per local government unit (LGU) this month.

This is to, also, determine if they have allocated budget for vaccine procurement this year.

The veterinary office is also intensifying its data gathering, particularly on the population of dogs in every city and municipality. Its target completion is in February.

Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena said there is also a need to formulate risk-based map for rabies vaccination.

Decena said it will be based on the occurrence of recorded rabies cases. Identification of high-risk barangays in every locality will also be conducted.

"We will formulate a vaccination plan prioritizing first the high-risk barangays followed by a medium to low-risk areas," he said, adding that these strategies will be implemented within next month.

Also in February, PVO will start presenting the rabies situation in the province and encourage support for the program through barangay, municipal and City Council meetings.

It will also lobby for the allocation of budget for the procurement of canine rabies vaccines and pre-exposure vaccination of paravets.

PVO will push for convening the Local Rabies Control Committee to strengthen the implementation of massive dog vaccination and stray dog control, it added.

Banking on the importance of community involvement, the veterinary office will also gather and organize dog owners in every LGU mainly to encourage support in its education and information campaign (EIC).

The plan focuses on dog vaccination activities during the first half of the year.

PVO will conduct massive dog vaccination in the surrounding barangays that serve as buffer zones to limit the spread of rabies infection.

Decena said dogs that cannot be handled by their owners during vaccination will be recorded and subjected to impounding.

In terms of stray dog population control, catching, and impounding of these animals will be intensified.

Decena said there will be termination of impounded dogs in accordance with the provision of Republic Act 8485 or Animal Welfare Act.

"For our EIC campaign, we will conduct film showing and forum about Rabies Awareness and Responsible Pet Ownership," he added.