Dog Population Management, Rabies Prevention & Control in Georgia

Mayhew International, part of the UK registered charity The Mayhew Animal Home, began its association with Georgia in 2009, when we welcomed a Georgian vet with an interest in animal welfare to our facilities in London for intensive training in small animal reproductive surgery. That connection remained on her return to Tbilisi and since 2013 our team has made regular visits to Tbilisi and built up a network of contacts to help introduce more effective ways of addressing the issues of street dogs there. Presently, this comprises providing veterinary training for the Municipal shelter vets and qualified vets and vet students at Tbilisi’s Agrarian University Clinic, working with the local authorities to improve shelter management and guidance on the implementation of a Trap, Neuter, Release programme for street dogs in Tbilisi with mandatory rabies vaccination, combined with advice on community education and disease control, including rabies, as well as supporting local animal welfare NGO – Dog Organisation Georgia. Mayhew International collaborates with other international animal welfare organisations around the world and has actively participated in mass rabies vaccination programmes with Mission Rabies in Ranchi, India and high volume neutering campaigns for dogs and recently completed the first ever Dog Population Survey Kabul, Afghanistan, laying the groundwork for a large scale rabies vaccination project there.

Rabies prevention, control and ultimate elimination of the disease is a global public health issue. Rabies is 100% preventable yet continues to kill thousands of people around the world, many of whom are children. Intervention by post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment following a bite will never completely eradicate the source of the disease; it is very costly and only available to those who have easy access to appropriate healthcare facilities. Most rabies cases in humans come from dog bites, not only from free roaming dogs, but from owned pets carrying the disease. It has been scientifically proven that a decline in human rabies deaths closely mirrors the decline in dog rabies cases, and by investing in the global elimination of dog-mediated human rabies through mass vaccination, presently being promoted though cross-collaborative campaigns such as the End Rabies Now campaign, Mission Rabies, World Animal Protection’s Better Lives for Dogs campaign and through the auspices of the Global Alliance for Rabies Control amongst others, is ultimately the most effective approach. Vaccination of 70 percent of the dog population is considered to be sufficient to eliminate canine rabies regardless of dog density or ownership patterns and there is substantial evidence from projects in Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Tanzania, KwaZulu Natal, SA and Malawi (too numerous to list here) to show this.

Culling of dogs does not eliminate rabies or other zoonotic diseases, nor does it help to reduce the roaming dog population in the long-term – government funds spent on culling dog populations in the misguided hope that the number of dogs on the streets will disappear never to return or that rabies will not raise its ugly head is a waste of money and not sustainable. However, it must be acknowledged that free-roaming dogs can and do cause concerns for the communities in which they live, and not just for the dogs themselves. Concerns around disease transmission, dog bites, traffic accidents, noise etc. need to be addressed through constructive collaboration between the animal health, human health and environmental sectors. Such collaboration is known as the One Health concept.

The One Health approach, combining vaccination and population management control with education and training is more humane and more sustainable in the long-term. In recent years the WHO, the OIE – World Organisation for Animal Health and Food & Agricultural Organization of the UN, working with both animal welfare and human health NGOs, have developed the One Health Tripartite which gives global guidance and was launched in December 2015 in Geneva. Georgia, like every other country, reports to the One Health Tripartite for both human and animal rabies and is also working on the Canine Rabies Stepwise Approach - a system to ensure full integration of all aspects required to eliminate rabies in animals and people. Georgia is also part of the MEEREB group (which covers the Caucasus, Balkans and Middle East) which regularly reports on ongoing rabies efforts.

In Georgia, with a human population of ca. 4 million, that reports approx. 5 human deaths of rabies/year presently, nearly USD 3.5 million is spent on dealing with the rabies issue and ca. 28 000 PEP treatments a year. However, the actual size of the Georgian dog population remains unknown. Some studies have been carried out recently in Tbilisi which suggests a roaming population of ca. 45,000 dogs, but more research needs to be done on the methodology and accuracy of such figures. Earlier studies for the period 2004 -2014 of the number of animals infected reported 47.8 percent were owned dogs, 28.4% roaming dogs and the rest wildlife, cats, and cattle.

Dog population management and rabies control is a massive challenge for any country, any organization or agency. There are no simple, short-term answers and the issue needs a multi-faceted approach which must include buy-in from several stakeholders including national and regional government, legislators, the local populace, the private and public sector, the veterinary profession, veterinary training establishments and educational bodies in general as well as animal welfare groups both from inside Georgia and out. Therein lies the challenge as there will be a myriad of opinions on the best methods to address the issues and, yes, it is an emotive issue. But ultimately it is not the behaviour of dogs that needs to be changed but the behaviours and attitudes of people.

The main components of a successful dog population management programme include

Legislation;

Controlling access to resources; – i.e. waste control, litter etc.;

Holding facilities/shelters and rehoming centers; – all of which should be temporary as these facilities alone cannot solve the issue of free-roaming dogs and nor is it possible to “rehome” oneself out of the problem. They are also very costly and time-consuming to run properly. Any dog (or cat) rehomed from a center should be neutered, vaccinated and treated for parasites and the new owners provided with information on their responsibilities. Rehoming unneutered, non-vaccinated animals is irresponsible and simply adds to the problem you are trying to solve;

Preventative dog health care – neutering, vaccination and parasite control - of both free-roaming dogs and owned pets;

Humane euthanasia - for cases of incurable disease, injury or behavioural problems with no prospect of recovery or rehabilitation and to end suffering when an animal’s quality of life is seriously in question, euthanasia is a necessary part of a dog management program. But understanding the reasoning behind this is vital. Euthanasia should not be a tool for population or disease control per se and when carried out should be done 100% humanely and with sensitivity;

Identification and registration - the best way to connect a pet with its owner and promote responsible, caring pet ownership;

Education/awareness-raising – this is really fundamental as the causes and effect of free-roaming dogs are all influenced by human behaviour and understanding. Communities need to understand the benefits of having dogs in the area, understand dog behaviour, the background behind their concerns and to understand the basic concepts of a dog population management program, disease prevention and control, which will all lead to an overall improvement in dog ownership and standards of animal welfare.

Tbilisi, and Georgia as a whole, needs a cohesive strategy to deal with the very visible roaming dog population and the threat of rabies. Georgia has some national and local government infrastructure in place and understands largely the theories behind dog population management and rabies control, but presently is lacking some baseline assessments, capacity and recent expertise to address it in such a way that impact is visible. This is where commitment from all stakeholders in necessary.

Through our work over recent years we can see gaps in the process which can ultimate mean that present interventions will fail unless a more cohesive approach is taken.

A proper survey of the dog population (owned and roaming) needs to be carried out. Without knowing your starting figure, no evaluation of impact can be made for interventions implemented;

Investment in veterinary training and other animal care professionals so that standards can be brought up to international levels:

there is limited knowledge of small animal medicine & surgery and presently not enough competent surgeons internally to carry out high volume neutering campaigns, notwithstanding the provision of high standard veterinary care to the pet owning population;

Raising awareness in the general public on the root causes of street/stray dog populations, the correlation of these dogs with the owned pet population and the concept and benefits of how a trap, neuter, vaccinate & release initiative works.

Mayhew International works and will work with those agencies in Georgia that are committed to introducing this One Health concept. We will share the knowledge we have and give practical assistance where appropriate; this includes continued collaboration with the Tbilisi Agrarian University to improve the veterinary science degree curriculum, practical training for vet professionals, assistance with dog population management and vaccination programs on a national and regional level and encouraging a more cohesive coalition of Georgian partners to address issues constructively to create an environment where dogs and humans can live alongside each other safe and secure in their communities.

For more information on Mayhew International go to:

www.themayhew.org or email international@mayhewanimalhome.org

Mayhew International for Georgia Today