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Utami NWA, Agustina KK, Atema KN, Bagus GN, Girardi J, Harfoot M, Haryono Y, Hiby L, Irawan H, Januraga PP, Kalalo L, Purnama SG, Subrata IM, Swacita IBN, Swarayana IMI, Wirawan DN, Hiby E. Evaluation of Community-Based Dog Welfare and Rabies Project in Sanur, a Sub-district of the Indonesian Island Province of Bali. Front Vet Sci 2019; 6:193. [PMID: 31338368 PMCID: PMC6629783 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The Indonesian island province of Bali experienced its first rabies incursion in 2008. Mass vaccination of the dog population has proven effective and rabies cases in dogs and people have decreased, however the virus is still circulating among the dog population. Vaccination coverage must be maintained until rabies elimination. Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of vaccination campaigns is therefore desired. Community engagement leading to preventative health actions by community members can reduce disease incidence and costs of control. Here we evaluate 2 years of a novel community-based dog welfare and rabies control project (Program Dharma) in the Sanur sub-district. The project engaged the services of people living in the project area with an interest or experience in dogs or community health services. These people spoke with owners within their own community about dog welfare and health, monitored owned and unowned dogs and increased owner and carer efforts to access vaccination and further veterinary services. The evaluation focused on a sample of dogs whose owners had been regularly engaged with project. Vaccination coverage was increased and there were no dog or human rabies cases reported in the project area; the percentage of the dogs that had never been vaccinated was reduced by an average 28.3% (baseline unvaccinated 41–49%, post-project unvaccinated 11–19%). The welfare of dogs improved from an average of 20.7% of dogs with visible welfare problems at baseline to 2.7% after project implementation. Roaming dog density observed on street surveys also decreased in all project areas (24–47% reduction dependent on desa). A participatory evaluation event with a sample of Program Dharma community-based agents highlighted several additional successes, including that the community appeared to welcome and value their services and were beginning to support the cost of project activities. Conversely, challenges included identifying dogs in the database during revisits, sustaining the costs of community member time spent working on Program Dharma activities and the costs of veterinary care, whilst avoiding dependency of owners on free veterinary services. The benefits revealed by the evaluation were judged to be sufficient to extend Program Dharma to new areas, whilst evolving activities to resolve challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ni Wayan Arya Utami
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia
| | - Kadek Karang Agustina
- Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia
| | | | | | | | - Mike Harfoot
- Independent Researcher, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Lex Hiby
- Conservation Research Ltd., Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Hendra Irawan
- Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA), Ubud, Indonesia
| | - Pande Putu Januraga
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia
| | - Levin Kalalo
- Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA), Ubud, Indonesia
| | - Sang Gede Purnama
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia
| | - I Made Subrata
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia
| | - Ida Bagus Ngurah Swacita
- Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia
| | | | - Dewa Nyoman Wirawan
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia
| | - Elly Hiby
- International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, MA, United States
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