GARUT CULLS HUNDREDS OF DOGS TO FIGHT RABIES

Garut, INDONESIA, Mar 2 (ANTARA) - Garut district authorities have culled hundreds of dogs in an effort to prevent the spread of rabies following incidents in which 18 people were bitten by rabid dogs in Karangpawitan and Mekarmukti sub districts.
The victims were immediately vaccinated against rabies and treated for the dog bites, Dida K. Endang, head of the Garut animal husbandry, fishery and marine service, said here on Monday.
In Tanjungsari and Godok villages, Karangpawitan sub district, out of a total of 435 dogs, 19 were killed, and 154 vaccinated against rabies.
Nine residents of the two villages were bitten by stray dogs, he said.
Of the 500 dogs existing in Karangwangi village, Mekarmukti sub district, some 300 were eliminated and around 170 vaccinated, he said. Nine local people were bitten by stray dogs in the village, he said.
In 2007, 48 inhabitants of Cisurupan sub distrct, Garut District, werw bitten by stray dogs, and hundreds of stray dogs were killed by the local authorities.
In Bali, an officially-declared rabies-infected zone, a total of 1,277 dogs were culled and 38,177 others vaccinated since Novemebr 2008. ***