Today is World Rabies Day and we are about to vaccinate THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dogs!

Rabies is a massive problem in the East African country of Tanzania. Thousands of dogs die excruciating deaths every year because of the disease, and yet, it is preventable.

It costs just one dime (about 9p!) to vaccinate a dog against rabies in Tanzania.

But finding the vaccinations, in some of the remotest parts of Africa – and getting veterinary teams to administer them – is the logistical and financial challenge.

Today is World Rabies Day. With your help right now, we will help protect thousands of Tanzania’s rural dogs against horrendous suffering. This letter includes actual pictures of dogs with rabies.

Rabies is a preventable viral disease that kills almost all dogs who contract it. If the disease is spread to humans, anybody who contracts the illness will, too, die a terrible death.

Words can barely do justice to the horror of rabies, which is spread by saliva. Two to four days after getting infected, the poor creature becomes weak or paralyzed, starts having seizures, difficulty in breathing, has difficulty swallowing, and shows abnormal behavior including extreme aggression to depression or coma.

Rabies is a massive problem in Tanzania. Right now, we are on the ground in the Misungwi District in Mwanza with our local partners, the Arusha Society for the Protection of Animals (ASPA) and respected community leader, Sister Doctor Rosamystica Sambu, to vaccinate as many rural dogs against rabies as we are able to.

It costs just $6 (less than £6) to vaccinate 10 dogs against the disease.
Your donation today will stretch a long, long way!

What happens when a dog gets rabies? Well, in Tanzania, it usually results in an animal dying a lonely death in unimaginable pain on the street.

‘Furious’ rabies presents as the dog having a voracious appetite. Where no food is available - like here on the impoverished streets of Mwanza - the dog will gulp down any inedible items he can find, like stones and dirt. Slowly, the dog will become paralyzed, and unable to eat or drink. Violent seizures and death ultimately follow.

In ‘dumb’ or ‘paralytic’ rabies, dogs foam at the mouth and progressive paralysis soon follows. The dog will eventually lapse into a coma and die.

Imagine being homeless and so sick that you fall into a coma on the side of the road, where people simply step over you (at best) or kick or harm you as you lie dying?

We MUST do all we can to prevent dogs dying in this awful and excruciating way. Please, help us today!

In Tanzania, some authorities even brutally kill dogs - instead of vaccinating them – because they fear the spread of the disease. The authorities do not care at all about this brutal killing, but local people love their animals and want to vaccinate them – they simply cannot access the treatment, and vets cannot reach them without our help.

If we can vaccinate the rural dogs of Tanzania, they will not only be safe from the ravages of rabies, but from the cruel killing hands of the authorities. Vaccinated dogs will be tagged or clipped to let the community know they’ve been vaccinated.

We are embarking on a mass vaccination drive across Tanzania with our partners, and, we aim to vaccinate as many as we can reach – hopefully, thousands. Exactly how many depends on the generosity of friends like you.

Image: Agriorbit

The low cost of the rabies vaccine is what makes our ambitious mission achievable. The essential and unavoidable costs we need to cover include veterinary supplies like syringes and transporting our vet team to some of the remotest villages in Tanzania. Plus, to ensure the vaccination remains effective, we must cover as much of Tanzania as we can every year to provide booster shots.

If we can raise $5,000 (£4,730), we can save thousands of lives.

We also need funds to create posters to let local communities know that rabies vaccination days are taking place, and we are working with respected community leaders to ensure the message is spread far and wide.

When local people know there is a place where they can vaccinate their dogs, they bring them, and more and more dogs will be protected.

Your donation will have a massive impact on the entire communities of dogs, saving countless animals from horrible deaths.

Protecting animals from disease and pain is at the very heart of animal welfare, and is one of our top priorities. Will you help us right now to reach as many needy dogs as we can? They will be forever grateful for this gift of a rabies-free life.

For the animals,

Brian and Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founders
Network for Animals

P.S. In Tanzania, local people love their animals and want to vaccinate them, so our work is welcomed with gladness. By conducting mass vaccinations, we help dog communities to develop herd immunity, which reduces incidences of the disease in dogs and ultimately in humans. Please, can the desperate dogs and puppies of Tanzania count on your love today?

Banner image: Mission Rabies