Question Village dogs

i rented our house complete with 4 streetdogs and 2 puppies. it was not my wish but it seemed the dogs signed a contract, too. so they stay here, sleep most time, play fighting sometimes, eat the rest of our dishes. the dogs are respectful, quiet, they are not bothering at all. when strangers come from outside, they bark, a perfect cheap alarm system. all in all a pleasure for me to live with "natural" animals, not the kind of fat depressed pets people keep in europe, loving them more than their own kids.
i got bitten by a puppy, my gf got horrified because of rabies. after realizing she might be right we rushed to the holy child hospital in dumaguete (the first hours after a bite are crucial, later you can forget about a treatment, only one guy in history survived rabies...) - a private hospital, professional treatment, i get 4 injections now within 2 weeks. to my surprise, there is no vaccine in stock, we had to find a pharmacy outside and this was worse ... nowhere available, the only one where you can buy it is the mercury behind the public market. costs 1600 pesos per shot + 500 for the hospital once. i heard the public hospital gives the shot for free, i went there but this is not true, they also send you outside to a pharmacy first, same costs all in all.
the puppy ist still in best condition, so i hope i will be member here for a longer time.

 

Here is a website with some pretty good information on rabies, it's transmission, treatment etc.
CDC - Exposure: When to seek medical attention - Rabies

The treatment here in the PI uses the same drugs as in the US but follows a very different schedule for injections.

The post exposure section has one very interesting tidbit. "If a person has previously received post exposure vaccinations or received pre-exposure vaccinations, only two doses of vaccine (on the day of exposure and then 3 days later) are needed. Human rabies immune globulin is not required. Your doctor and local health department will be able to guide you through the process." (Maybe).
At least the next time I get bitten it'll be two shots only.
and
"For people who have never been vaccinated against rabies previously, post exposure anti-rabies vaccination should always include administration of both passive antibody and vaccine."
The passive antibodies are the expensive shot.

If I had kids here I would consider get them vaccinated against rabies as it is very common here in the PI and sooner or later they will get bitten.
I don't know if anyone here does this as it's not cheap. On the bright

I trust the CDC information more than other sources.
Comments in quotes are from the CDC website.

The local vet in Bacong charges about 100 Peso to vaccinate one dog.

 

It is Unfortunate, but I have had to Stop my Wife and Daughter from putting food out for the Strays, where we used to have 3/4 some days we can get a pack of 12 or more, that is scary, as I can only deal with 2 at the most. I will ask the Captain later if he can Suggest what we do as I am really Concerned about this Large Pack and the small children we have around the Purok.

 

????????????? Ron What are you trying to say?

 

No more free anti-rabies vaccines
By Juancho R. Gallarde (The Freeman) | Updated January 18, 2014 - 12:00am
DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — There will be no more free anti-rabbies vaccines for dogs starting this year, according to the City Veterinary Office the other day.

City veterinarian Lourdes Socorro said that, over the past four years, the city government had been a recipient of donated anti-rabies vaccines from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As a result, the CVO has recorded a high vaccination rate for dogs ranging from 13,000 to 15,000 a year, but without the donation, this is expected to drop significantly, said Socorro.

The CVO instead will enforce an ordinance requiring dog owners to have their dogs vaccinated for a fee of P165, which will include a dog tag, she said.

A house-to-house campaign for anti-rabbies vaccination for dogs and other pets is also being conducted to minimize, if not eradicate, rabid dog bites in the city, said Socorro.

The city official further called for responsible dog ownership to reduce the number of stray dogs, saying that people should not raise dogs if they are incapable of feeding, providing shelter and giving vaccination to their pets. (FREEMAN)

No more free anti-rabies vaccines | Region, The Freeman Sections, The Freeman | philstar.com

 

Rabies is a huge concern but some of these village dogs (as well as strays elsewhere) the mange, fleas and ticks is rampant. Some of these dogs are in obvious misery and should be put down. There is one dog (I have spent a lot of time in the village lately working on the in-laws house...keeps growing on work that needs to be done) that has almost no fur left, the flies follow it around, it walks slowly with a terrible limp. It is a disgusting and sad looking thing.

I had a very long conversation the other day with the father in law about these dogs, he feeds them to keep them around to bark if someone comes around the house at night, which is something to worry about with the increasing number of folks moving to the village and various disputes on land and such. They are not worried about rabies as they do not think the dogs are "biters" as there is a keep to yourself attitude by both the dogs and the folks around. I think Geese are a better alarm than a mangy dog, but my opinion.

Life in the village is different and they have lived certain ways, with certain beliefs forever; so I have really no valid opinion on this when there. I just feel bad for how these dogs are. What is interesting is when the father in law, nieces and nephews, uncles and aunts and the wife's sisters and brother in laws visit the house they are petting our dogs and playing with them. Our Dalmatian loves my father in law...more excited to see him then us it seems.

I try to walk our dogs around the area a bit on a leash for the younger dogs and let the Dalmatian and Belgian out to run a bit, but try to keep them away from the dogs in the area, pets or not I do not believe most have had any vaccines. Recently there has been around 4 or 5 additional dogs to the "neighborhood" so it is a bit more work, especially with a young male Dalmatian that only wants to find a female in heat.

I still think strays should be rounded up and euthanized as I have come to believe most can not be pets. This topic was about village dogs, I have come across many folks here that love their dogs, are part of their family and are taken care of very well. The various stores would not be selling quality dog food, chew toys and the various meds if there was not a market for it.

Shawn

 

@ShawnM
In an older thread there is some discussion about using ********** (an anti-parasitic) to treat lice/tick etc.
It is available in small sachets for about 10-20 peso per dose from most Agri-Vet stores.
You could treat the mangy dogs in the neighborhood pretty cheap. They would surely appreciate it.

I've noticed that most street dogs are not aggressive. I'm guessing any dogs that are aggressive get killed with a big stick.
I have one askal and he is the sweetest dog I have ever owned. It's too bad he's not much in the training department but that's okay he's a good yapper when strangers come around at night.

 

We have a couple mutts from a neighbor and they are great little dogs and are treated as family just like our pure bred dogs. They were pets from the get go though, a bit different than the older village dogs.

Shawn