Thousands of Healthy Dogs Are Killed Every Day to ‘Prevent Rabies’ – You Can Help Change This

For many people who share their lives with a dog friend, getting a regular rabies vaccination is nothing but a routine task. But for an overwhelming number of dogs who live on the streets in countries that do not distribute vaccinations to homeless animals, this is not the reality.

For many dogs around the world, the threat of rabies means a death sentence. Killing dogs because of the possibility that they may become sick is carried out on a mass scale. According to a petition published on Care2 by World Animal Protection Canada, every minute, around 20 dogs are killed every 20 minutes for fully preventable reasons. That comes up to the astonishing number of 28,800 dogs per day.

At the center of this barbaric practice lies overpopulation and the strong fear of rabies. Rabies is a viral infection that attacks the nervous system of a mammal, leading to swelling of the brain and death after a relatively short illness. It is perhaps the most well-known and infamous disease that affects dogs. To make matters worse, the virus can be transferred to humans through bites.

Although rabies is a gravely serious illness, it does not justify the mass-scale killing of helpless beings who do not present with symptoms – nor is this an efficient way to prevent the spread of disease.

Mass vaccination programs are the only way to stop the spread of rabies and save thousands of lives. Supporting such programs, World Animal Protection has influenced governments and educated communities “from Sierra Leone to Romania to Bangladesh” to Support vaccinations, sterilizations, re-homing, and dog registration. By 2020, the organization hopes to impact the lives of 50 million dogs worldwide – but to do so it needs the help of everyone who supports the cause.

Our voices can help convince governments and decision-makers to adopt mass vaccination policies and save an enormous number of dog lives. Click here to sign World Animal Protection’s pledge and Support life-saving vaccinations for dogs all around the world!

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