If a person can contract rabies from butchering animals that are infected with the rabies virus or have already died from it, a person can also contract rabies from beating a rabid dog to death (as in the recent Nepal footage), as blood, saliva and/or brain tissue inevitably goes flying around in the process. This is one very good reason to discourage the public from the all too common practice of beating suspected rabid animals to death.
A Side of Rabies With Your Dog Meat in China
People in China and other Asian countries are dying of rabies. But
it’s not because dogs are biting them — it’s because they are biting
dogs, eating 18-80 million a year just in China.
“Rabies is a major problem in China. The country’s Ministry of Health
says it has the 2nd highest rate in the world after India.” And it’s
getting worse. Human rabies cases appear to be on the rise in China
based on the most recent numbers available. “In 2007, there were 3302
confirmed human rabies cases in China, nearly 21 times the number
found from the entire period between 1990 and 1996.”
It’s not just eating the meat that causes rabies. Slaughtering,
processing and cooking it may be even more dangerous. After a rabies
outbreak led to human fatalities in Viet Nam, government officials
“reported that 70 percent of deaths were from dog bites but up to 30
percent were thought to be linked to exposure during slaughter or
butchery.”
“In a 17 Mar [2009 — see comment below] study from Hanoi published by
the PLoS Medicine journal, researchers pointed to 2 cases of human
rabies in Viet Nam where the patients were believed infected while
butchering a rabid animal — in one case a dog, the other a cat.”
“In the 1st patient’s case, he had prepared and eaten a dog that had
been killed in a road traffic accident; rabid dogs were known to
inhabit the neighbourhood. The 2nd patient had butchered and eaten a
cat that had been sick for a number of days.” Other people who ate the
same meat did not fall ill.
According to the Welcome Trust rabies is a very serious — and in
nearly all cases fatal — disease. It is estimated to kill over 30 000
people each year in Asia, and the number of cases in China and Viet
Nam is increasing. Symptoms include agitation, severe spasms, fever,
fear of water and inability to drink liquids, and eventually death.
There is a vaccine for rabies and even a treatment that can [very
rarely] cure the disease after infection, but it must be administered
very quickly after the patient contracts rabies. “Once a person shows
symptoms, the disease is almost invariably fatal.”
[Byline: Piper Hoffman]
Communicated by: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
This report cites figures in support of an assertion that rabies
virus infection is increasing in China and wishes to correlate this
with increasing consumption of dog meat in China. In support of this
contention the article cites 2 cases [which actually occurred in 2009
– Mod.CP] in Viet Nam where rabies was contracted by an individual
slaughtering an accident-injured dog [see: Rabies, via dog/cat
butchering – Viet Nam archive number 20090318.1092], and another
slaughtering a cat.
Eating dog meat is common in many Asian countries, but research
conducted as part of the South East Asia Infectious Diseases Clinical
Research Network identified a potentially lethal risk associated with
preparing dog meat. In research published on 18 Mar 2009 in the open
access journal PLoS Medicine, Heiman Wertheim and colleagues from the
National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and the
National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi, Viet Nam,
report on 2 patients admitted to hospital showing signs of rabies
infection. Neither patient was thought to have been bitten by a rabid
animal in the preceding months see: Wertheim H, et al: Furious Rabies
after an Atypical Exposure. PLoS Medicine. 17 Mar 2009 [available at
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000044].
It is clearly probable that rabies virus can be transmitted during the
course of slaughtering and butchering dogs and cats, if the person
involved has exposed abrasions or wounds. However, rabies virus cannot
be transmitted through consumption of cooked meat since rabies virus
(and related rhabdoviruses) are heat sensitive and rapidly lose
infectivity at normal environmental temperature and humidity.
Vaccination and dog licensing are mechanism for controlling rabies
virus infection, not banning consumption of dog meat. – Mod.CP
PETITION TO SIGN HERE:
Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:35 am (PDT) .
Animal protectors in Nepal were quick to respond when police in Kathmandu engaged in a botched killing of a street dog in the city last month. The killing was filmed and uploaded to youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkUNXTlcVJs).
The footage shows a dog hiding in a drain at the side of the road. The dog is shot and injured by a police officer. The dog then runs out of the drain, and one of the officers eventually manages to club it to death.
The issue was brought to the attention of Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN), a coalition of animal welfare groups and concerned individuals working in the country.
Shristi Singh Bhandari, Communication Director at Animal Nepal submitted the following update to AWNN on March 6, 2103 (certain names have been redacted):
<<Dear all,
I am sending you my follow up on the recent shooting of the stray dog in kathmandu:
1. After receiving the video, I went to talk to the local people who had witnessed the killing about the issue. They told me that the dog had bitten several people and they were scared to walk by the street. SO they called the local police to attend to the matter. The police told them to tie the dog up to observe if he had was rabid, The locals obviously did not agree to do so. They again called the police to take care of the situation, so they came and you know the rest.
2. I went to talk to the nearby police station where they had reported the dog. The officer who was at the station told me that the police officers had been dispatched by the Kamalpokhari police station and not from the local section.
3. I went to talk to Inspector Kunwar from Kamalpokhari branch about the matter. He was very supportive and said that they indeed had make a mistake but the main order had been handed out by xxxx of Hanuman Dhoka district police station. The inspector proposed to work together in future that still needs to be discussed.
4. Then I went to Hanuman Dhoka t o talk to xxxx who was super rude and non cooperative. He said it was an emergency situation and he did what he had to do and that he does not have time to look for animal welfare groups and that he will not dispatch any letters regarding what happened and that we were more than welcome to stage a protest.
5. SO I got in touch with Rana bahadur Chand who is the head of Hanuman Dhoka and told him about the situation. He said he was shocked to find out how xxxx had behaved and that he himself had not seen the video. He said he will be more than glad to release the circular stating an order to contact animal welfare groups to handle such cases in future and a letter to AWNN stating the case. So he has asked to draft a letter for them so that they can sign and send it to everyone necessary. I on the other hand told him that in case he does that we will send a press release thanking him for his cooperation. So we are drafting a letter and will send him that by 2 today and hope to get it back by tomorrow morning.He has called us to work with the police in such matter. Once the strike is over I will be going to meet him with our brochures and information.>>
A letter was drafted to send to the police that they would then issue as an apology for their actions, plus a circular for the police to issue to their officers regarding future handling of suspected rabies cases. AWNN was subsequently invited to attend a still-to-occur gathering of police to sensitize them about animal welfare issues.
Kudos to the animal protection community in Nepal for swift and effective action.
Lisa Warden
REPLY
Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:49 am (PDT)
Thanks Lisa.
He informed us that he has send out a circular to all police offices to not kill dogs but instead inform animal welfare agencies when dealing with an agressive dog. Chand promised to send a letter of apology to the Animal Welfare Network Nepal.
The chief said he loves animals and that he and a number of colleagues oppose animal sacrifice.
We have also been asked to educate police officers about animal welfare.
This is an encouraging development but much work remains to be done. Poisoning is still the preferred method to ‘limit’ stray dog populations by virtually all municipalities in Nepal. AWNN in August organised a seminar on humane dog management, during which a number of local government promised to stop the poisoning, see
http://animalnepal.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/national_seminar_on_dog_population_management_nepal/
We request international campaigners to continue to be involved in the Nepal situation. With no animal welfare legislation in place, and hardly any humane dog management taking place outside Kathmandu Valley, Nepal really needs encouragement in this area.
Thanks,
Lucia
****************************************
FROM Animal Nepal website:
Take action against brutal dog killing by Nepal Police
Kathmandu, March 1, 2013 – Animal Nepal today expressed its shock at the brutal killing of a dog by the Nepal police in Baluwatar, Kathmandu. The dog, which reportedly bit two people, was killed brutally with the help of a gun and bamboo sticks, in full view of the public. The killing was recorded by video and uploaded on youtube.
Animal Nepal today handed over letters to the Inspector of Police, the Chief District Officer and the Kathmandu Municipality, requesting the authorities to take immediate action.
According to Animal Nepal, “the images of ‘man’s best friend’ dying such an agonizing death are heart rendering and deeply traumatizing for children and other members of the public.”
Despite the fact that humane solutions like Animal Birth Control/Anti Rabies have been introduced in Nepal a decade ago, authorities continue to kill dogs inhumanely using strychnine poison, guns or sticks. The incident shows that Nepal badly needs an Animal Welfare Act, to provide protection for canines and other animals.
The campaigners invite all concerned citizens to sign this petition, as well as send emails to the municipality through this link, and to the Nepal police at info@nepalpolice.gov.np. The CDO can be reached by fax at 009 771 4267619.
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, GLOBAL PETITIONS - Anything Animal, Anywhere !, LETTERS, RABIES, VIDEOS | Leave a comment »
