Embark renews commitment to Maharagama for second year

Embark has commenced the second year of a three-year project to help the Maharagama area manage its community canine issue through a large scale animal birth control program modelled on similar programs conducted in and around Colombo.

The project involves the deployment of the internationally accepted CNVR (Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate and Release) methodology across the Maharagama Divisional Secretary Division, which is home to more than 185,000 people.

Working in collaboration with the Medical Officer of Health, Maharagama, teams made up of representatives of Embark and the Best Care Animal Hospital systematically administer anti-rabies vaccinations and sterilise street and owned dogs before releasing them in to the care of their owners or communities.

The project has concentrated heavily on anti-rabies vaccinations, even going door to door, due to recent reports of Rabies and has completed the first round of vaccinations in almost 70 % of the MOH area. These activities are supported by educational programmes which focus on creating awareness on responsible pet ownership and encouraging communities to sterilise and regularly vaccinate owned dogs.

A Memorandum of Understanding covering the second year of the project was formally signed recently by representatives of the Provincial Department of Health Services, Embark and the veterinary service providers.

“Our target is to vaccinate a maximum 80 % of the roaming and owned dog population and sterilise 80 % of the female animals within the Maharagama MOH area” said Ashani Gopallawa – Head of Business Operations for Embark. “The overall objective is to reduce the human-dog conflict by tackling the issue of stray dog overpopulation and prevention of rabies transmission.”

She said all sterilisations and vaccinations are done by trained veterinarians in sterile conditions and the rounding up and release of stray dogs is supervised by professionals to ensure no harm comes to the dogs.

Regional Director of Health Services, Colombo Dr.Thilak Siriwardana said: “The Embark project on rabies control in the Maharagama MOH area is a great support to the rabies control project in the Colombo District and is an example of cooperation between government health staff and a non-governmental organisation. The project considers all animals, owners and the staff engaged in the project to be important elements in the exercise. Embark ensures that each animal is looked after until it recovers from the intervention. The owners of the animals are happy to get them vaccinated against rabies and sterilised through the project as it is a novel experience for them.”