Monday, July 14, 2025

DOH urges pet owners to have pets vaccinated

HEALTH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Thursday said more than half or 54 percent of rabies cases in the country involved pets that bit or scratched their owners.

Herbosa made the statement during a briefing in Malacanang as he urged pet owners to be more responsible by having their pets vaccinated and also warned them against using rabies vaccines that are not registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“We discovered there are vaccines coming in that are not registered with the FDA. So, in fact, I had a meeting yesterday with the Bureau of Quarantine, the FDA and the CIDG (Criminal Investigation and detection Group), because we have discovered, there are private vaccine facilities called Animal Bite Centers, that sell the vaccine at an alarmingly low price and when we checked, it is registered with our FDA,” he said.

He said the vaccines were likely smuggled and had been branded as contraband. Herbosa said these vaccines may not be effective either because they are fake or have insufficient doses.

He said the government has intensified its campaign against these fake vaccines, adding that they have monitored 400 rabies cases in 2024, twice the number of cases in 2023.

Herbosa said more than half of them or 52 to 54 percent involved pets owned by families who had not had their pets vaccinated.

“This is why we’re pushing for responsible pet ownership,” he said, adding that vaccinating animals is a cheaper and more effective way to prevent rabies than undergoing the post-exposure treatment for humans that can cost as much as P4,000 per dose of anti-tetanus and anti-rabies shots.

He said local government and local health offices usually offer free anti-rabies shots for animals.

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