Dog Rabies Vaccination and Population Program

ALL CREATURES is a registered U.S. 501c(3) charity that supports various animal and people related projects in Africa. The organization has a passionate leadership, supported by an experienced Board of Advisors with an established track record.  

World Health Organisation estimates that canine rabies claims over 59,000 lives of predominantly children below the age of fifteen (15 years) in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia, from unvaccinated dog bites. Billions of dollars are lost throughout the world through loss of productive time due to the deaths and also in the costs of post-exposure treatment & management of this global public health problem. However, the loss of lives and revenue associated with post-exposure management of human-dog bites, can be mitigated through community mass rabies vaccination of 70% of the existing dog population at a comparatively much smaller cost.

The elimination of canine rabies in Mzuzu City & Northern Malawi remains a primary objective of ALL CREATURES since 2016. We maintain a collaborative relationship with the Malawi government through Mzuzu City Assembly (City Council & Mayor), and Mzuzu Agriculture and Development Division (Ministry of Agriculture). We also work with non-government entities like Washington State University, Community Vet Centre (Florida), GARC, Humane Society International and Mission Rabies. 

The programme is managed and implemented by a dedicated team of three veterinary nurses and one full-time veterinarian. The teams targets specific areas of concern eg. 

Chintenche Area around Nkhata Bay in Malawi has recently suffered profoundly from canine rabies. The area has a pack of marauding stray dogs and a bunch of wild foxes that are believed to spread rabies to the largely unvaccinated dogs of this important tourism location. This scenario has spurred a major cause of concern from the lakeside lodge owners that have expressed a desire to support ALL CREATURES and local partners to address this problem. We typically, employee two surgeons, two vet nurses and another three support staff. We work out of either empty classes in a school or existing buildings that we can find in any target villages 200 km away from our Mzuzu Veterinary Centre.

Our two charitable veterinary centres in Malawi have been the primary source of funds for the community spay and neuter clinic and mass rabies vaccination campaigns. Through this programme, we have vaccinated 24,134 dogs against rabies and reduced uncontrolled dog breeding and the overall dog population by sterilizing 2,345 dogs.

Currently, the team sterilises an average of 200 dogs over a two-day period at every community clinic, and vaccinates over 7000 dogs against rabies during a two-week rabies vaccination campaign. We are seeking an additional $114,200.00 in external funding to dramatically increase these numbers. The funds will be used to hire personnel, vaccines, supplies and provide logistical support.

Expected outcomes include increasing the number of sterilised and vaccinated dogs, consequently improving the ratio of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated dogs.  The programme will reduce the annual rate of growth of the dog population by sterilising 500 female dogs every quarter and administering rabies vaccine to over 70% (target 20,000) of the dog population annually. With a fairly stable, mainly unreproductive and vaccinated dog population, canine rabies shall be eliminated from Mzuzu City and the surrounding areas, lowering rabies risk to a population of over 1.7 million people that live in and around the city.

We aim to undertake a monthly community dog sterilization clinic for the next 10 months in this community. We seek your kind support in order for us to guarantee the welfare of the dogs while protecting the public from canine rabies. We need $15,000 to run all the community clinics successfully