By Michael Kanaabi Dollar
The world Rabies Day celebrations were concluded at the close of last week and saw over 1138 animals vaccinated in the areas of Kampala, Wakiso, Gomba and Mityana which are the districts with many stray animals according to animal protection NGO Uniquely Paws Founder Meg Jaquay.
Speaking exclusively to this Publication Jaquay said “ Our target was to have as many animals vaccinated to reduce the chances of bites from both stray and community member owned animals especially cats and dogs leading to the deadly rabies disease which results in loss of human life in some cases.”
The other aim of the week long activities was to spay and neuter (castrate) as many animals as possible to prevent rapid growth of cat and dog populations to unmanageable levels which often times result in poisoning or killing of animals to get the populations back under control.
The whole of last week activities were taking place across Kampala in locations such as Luzira, Kasubi, Mpererwe and other suburbs around the city plus upcountry locations in Gomba and Mityana.
“60% of the animals vaccinated belonged to minors on average which is inline with Uniquely Paws plan to educate and empower children on how best to care fore their animals given they are the future of the nation and will play a big part in controlling and getting rid of stray animals in the future” Jaquay points out.
The Yellow ribbon Initiative
While it is a temporary way of identifying animals that were vaccinated during the week long activities aimed at curbing the spread of rabies from both cat and dog bites last week, this identification mark developed by Uniquely Paws which is an NGO advocating for better animal care and protection in communities attracted a lot of attention in neighborhoods where the activities were being done resulting in more people bringing out their animals for vaccination.
In future they plan to come up with a more permanent yellow mark that will clearly distinguish vaccinated from unvaccinated animals in the community but they still urge community members to deal with cats and dogs in their localities with caution, avoid aggression towards them but also ensure they don’t harm you, animal care experts at the event advised.
Another 180 animals were spayed and neutered (castrated) as part of these activities cutting down on unnecessary animal population growth which could rise up to 12000 puppies in 5 years for every female dog and it’s offspring and 11000 kittens for every cat and it’s offspring combined over the next 5 years.
Future Activities
The next major round of vaccinations will happen next year at the end of April during the celebrations to mark world veterinary day.
More awareness about spaying and neutering (castration) of both family owned and stray animals in the communities is also going to be done so that people can understand the benefits and what value it adds to communities if these animals are taken care of and not being another nuisance in the community.
With some stockpiles of drugs still left for vaccination and related services Meg Jaquay the Uniquely Paws co- founder urges Community Leaders and members who have animals in their localities that need vaccination to reach out to them so they can attend to these animals but also ensure they have indoor free sizeable spaces where the activities can be carried out.
The Uganda Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (USPCA) whose premises and animal shelter is located off the Munyonyo Kajjansi section of the Entebbe Express way and KCCA were the other partners in the World Rabies Day activities.
About Uniquely Paws
Apart from donating all the fund’s for the surgeries that were done during these activities, the organisation also gave out guide books to the young children who brought their animals to the various locations. “These books are aimed at teaching the young ones to care for their animals and also offer them a chance to do some fun picture colouring in there.
Formed in September 2022 by two American ladies living in Uganda, the idea to start this organisation was birthed during a tour to New York city USA.
“Our plan was simple, put together groups of women in neighborhoods around Uganda dealing with the challenges of stray animals, let them create earrings, necklaces and other craft items with dog, cat and related animal themes which are sold in New York city and part of the proceeds are then used to spay, neuter and take care of stray animals in the community besides creating an income stream for the women’s groups” Meg says.
Over the period of its one year existence Uniquely Paws has helped over 2500 animals and they plan to grow that number to 10,000 animals a year with more grants. They aim to raise about 40,000 Dollars to expand their coverage of animals across the country.
In 2019 Meg started doing community animal clinics in Kawempe where she resides after people used to drop animals over their fence. “ Between 2019 and 2022 over 200 stray animals were thrown over her fence by people in the community who assumed she would take care of all of them given her love for animals.
But as the clinics took shape the numbers dropped down and between 2022 to date only 5 stray animals have been dropped over the fence showing a huge drop resulting from the clinics.
Email: michaelkanaabi@gmail.com
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