Mission Rabies launched in India – the world’s hotspot for rabies, where a third of all human cases occur. That’s the death of a child every hour. In September 2013, Mission Rabies launched with a massive campaign, powered by vets and volunteers from 14 countries, to achieve over 60,000 dog vaccinations in just 28 days across 12 locations in India. We trained and equipped some of the best dog catchers in the world to make sure we reached the crucial 70% of the dog population to stop rabies spreading to dogs and people.
But that was just the beginning.
- We set up permanent vaccination teams in Goa and Ranchi and embarked on intensive dog population control programmes in some of the toughest areas of the country.
- Our purpose-built mobile veterinary hospital truck hosts monthly surgical training courses around India to teach vets the skills required to run neutering and vaccine campaigns.
- We recruit volunteers for monthly mass vaccination drives at each location the truck visits; further boosting the work of the established vaccination teams.
- We distribute educational materials and visit schools to teach children and adults how to understand dogs better so they can avoid dog bites and reduce the risk of rabies.
In 2014 we conducted a mass dog sterilisation drive, sterilising and vaccinating more than 20,000 dogs in just 6 months.
Building on this massive effort, our teams continue to work in the State of Goa and have vaccinated a total of more than 100,000 dogs since the start of the project.
Likewise, our team in the city of Ranchi is doing an exceptional job, having vaccinated more than 75,000 dogs in the city and protecting the population and dogs alike to contract this vicious disease.
