Amala Akkineni, Chairperson of Blue Cross Hyderabad, said “At Blue Cross For 28 years, we have been conducting projects for the welfare of animals. We have worked very closely with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to conduct animal birth control programmes and have conducted 1,000 to 1,200 surgeries a month, which has resulted in 40% of our dogs being sterilised in Hyderabad. With this collaboration, a highly equipped and customized Mercedes Zetros 6×6 vehicle, which will be staffed by Indian-led teams of vets and paravets will travel to different cities creating a huge impact with our mission to curb Rabies, and reach out to a much larger number of people.”
Amala Akkineni Spearheads Mission Rabies Free Telanganana
Rapid urbanization is responsible for the creation of huge amounts of garbage that breeds street dogs. The Animal Birth Control and Anti-rabies Vaccination program (ABC/ARV) is recommended by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) as a safe solution to reduce their numbers. Animal Welfare groups run successful dog population management efforts via the ABC/ARV program for street dogs in the community with the help of civic bodies.
Mission Rabies was launched in 2013 to inspire veterinarians in different localities to learn high-quality animal birth control surgeries to control the free-roaming dog population. In India, cases of rabies account for more than 90% of all zoonotic diseases prevalent in the country. Also, India is among the leading countries with a significant number of rabies deaths reported worldwide. Administering anti-rabies vaccination to pets, street dogs and cats will help to prevent the spread of the deadly rabies disease.