Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

India is the country with the highest prevalence of rabies in the world, with about 20’000 human deaths occurring every year. The country also has a heavy burden of free roaming dogs, mainly because of the high amount of edible waste in the streets, which are the main hosts for the disease. Therefore to truly extinguish rabies, the main focus should be on the dogs, both stray dogs and owned. One method is to vaccinate all dogs against rabies. This has shown to be vastly effective in reducing the spread of rabies among dogs. Another tool is to cull all free roaming dogs, which has been shown to be ineffective again and again. Furthermore it has been debated whether or not this method is ethically acceptable.

There is yet another method practiced to control and eliminate dog rabies in India: the so called “Animal Birth Control (ABC) programs”. In ABC projects free roaming dogs are caught, neutered, vaccinated and let out again where they were originally caught. Studies have indicated that this method is effective in both reducing the canine population in the streets and controlling rabies. Furthermore ABC is the humane way of doing so. There are studies investigating the results of such projects of the rabies status and demography of the free roaming dog population. However, no studies show how ABC is carried out and how the dogs at an ABC-clinic are taken care of. Therefore the aim of this paper was to study the nursing of free roaming dogs on a specific ABC-clinic. This was done by studying the nursing of two dogs during an ABC-program, taking place at an ABC-clinic in South of India. After the case study the results were compared to nursing recommendations in litterature.

The study showed numerous factors differing from the recommendations in the caretaking of the dogs at the clinic. Mainly these consisted of the control and prevention of hypothermia, hygiene aspects and postoperative monitoring and nursing. Several of these factors would most likely be possible to change for the better, such as improving hygiene routines and monitoring the dogs for a longer period of time postoperatively. At the same time some aspects might be more difficult to change. The conditions cannot be same as under more normal circumstances. The economical aspect is probably the most limiting factor, since the clinic is driven solely on money contributions and thus conditions are simpler. At the clinic there is no access to the equipment which would normally be used in a modern clinic and the access to electricity is highly variable. Occasionally medications normally used are not available and the work has to be carried out by using alternative drugs. Needless to say it is important to be flexible and learn to work with limited assets. One has to prioritze in a way that makes sure the dogs get the best possible care.