Dog population management Why it's failing...

Dr. Hansaka Wijayamuni, Deputy Health Minister spoke in Parliament on 22/5/2025 that the national rabies eradication and dog population management programme has not provided sustainable results, although huge amounts of money have been spent annually on sterilization and dog rabies vaccination.

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This statement echoes what animal welfare organisations working on mass spay and vaccination programmes have said for years. Since 2008 the Ministry of Health, who is in charge of this programme, has hired contract veterinarians who can barely cover a single area consistently, let alone the entire island.

The programme has not shown the desired results of reducing the dog population nor achieving 80% dog rabies vaccination for two consecutive years to obtain herd immunity.