Vaccinating Free Roaming Dogs with Mission Rabies

Another early morning as we left the ITC at 6am and headed an hour down the hill, all 36 hairpin bends, for a day of vaccinations.

While we have been vaccinating the dogs post-surgery against Rabies, this was the same project but a 6-in-1 vaccination against the most common diseases found in dogs.

We stopped at a hotel for breakfast and were served the most amazing dosas. Everyone has been understandably weary of where we eat, avoiding meat and salads, but this hotel looked really clean and the food was decent. We each had a huge dosa stuffed with spicy veg and potato served with a savoury coconut sauce, not typical breakfast food but soo good.

Once again we split into two groups and headed out with our trucks, supplies and "the boys" who catch the dogs for us.

We drove along a rural lane stopping at each house to see if they have dogs and offered free 6-in-1 vaccinations. The owners were very willing to have their dogs vaccinated as WVS have such a reputation in the area and have worked hard to educate people as to the importance.

Those with owners were generally contained in a yard or on a chain but many needed to be caught by the boys for us to vaccinate them.

The free roaming dogs were more of a challenge as they tended to hide once they saw us coming so the boys went in armed with butterfly nets and were super efficient as catching them; if it was left to me we'd still be waiting to catch the first one!

Between us we vaccinated 100 dogs which are all recorded in an app based database including the sex of the dog and whether they have been neutered by WVS by checking their ears for notches.

There were a couple of dogs which needed first aid treatment including one which had picked a fight with a wild pig and others needing veterinary attention will be picked up and brought to the ITC on Monday.

It was really nice to walk around villages to meet people and see the real India, things you wouldn't normally see as a tourist and an insight into how people live.

Lots of the boys live in the villages we visited so they are familiar with the area and people around them.

Back to the same hotel for lunch and then a trip to IPAN, a shelter ran by Ilona and Nigel for all sorts of animals from all over India, be they ex-circus animals, ex-racehorses or those with injuries needing care. They had dozens of horses, donkeys and goats plus over 20 horses at their home.

We were invited in for tea and saw photos of some of the work they've done which were amazing. They really have dedicated their entire lives to helping animals, the ITC and IPAN.

Unfortunately a horse they rescued a month ago had been very sick and died this morning of an obstructive colic.

We were able to see the post mortem and found a linear foreign body in the small colon which after removing was obviously plastic. The horses are often seen eating rubbish at the roadside and from skips so it must have accumulated and caused an impaction.