Mass dog culling is not an effective

method for rabies control

Global Alliance for Rabies Control Position Statement

Mass dog culling has been shown to have no long-term impact on the control of rabies within
cities [1-3], or across countries such as Ecuador, Indonesia, and Bangladesh [4-7]. It is a waste
of time and resources that could be used instead to put in place a sustainable, effective rabies
elimination program.

Why is mass culling ineffective?

Culling has no permanent effect on population size: Culling does not address the source of
new or replacement animals and only has a temporary effect on population size [8]. Rapid dog
replacement rates have been documented in some areas following culling, leading to a younger
population of rabies-susceptible dogs [9, 10].

Culling can result in an increase in rabies: Indiscriminate culling of dogs in communities where
rabies vaccination programs are operating is likely to remove vaccinated dogs from communities,
resulting in lower vaccination coverage and a counter-productive increase in rabies transmission
as populations recover [11].

Culling causes problems for the community: Culling often meets with public resistance both
within the local area and outside, especially as the methods employed are often inhumane [12].
The result can be withholding of dogs from rabies vaccination efforts during current and future
campaigns. People may even move dogs away from culling zones, a measure which has been
documented to spread rabies [13]. Some methods of inhumane culling, such as poisoning, may

Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) | www.rabiesalliance.org 1

also pose threats to public health. Culling operations can be expensive [4, 14] and harmful to
tourism [15].

For these reasons, the indiscriminate culling of dogs is now universally condemned as a
means to eliminate rabies [16].

What should be done during a rabies outbreak?

In any rabies situation, but particularly during an outbreak emergency, the focus should be on
vaccinating dogs [17]. Rabies can spread quickly across an area, especially where there are large
numbers of unvaccinated free-roaming dogs. The basic management of the situation is the same,
whether there is a rabies outbreak in an endemic area or in a rabies-free area. However, there
needs to be a particular focus on animal movements into and out of the affected area in the case
of an emergency in a rabies-free area.

• Vaccination campaigns for dogs (and cats if appropriate) should choose a strategy that
will reach 70% vaccination coverage of the at-risk dog population as quickly as possible
[17]. This will reduce the number of susceptible animals in an infected area to prevent the
spread of the disease.

Briefly, alongside vaccination, additional measures that will help to limit the spread of the disease
and ensure protection of people include:

• Declaration of infected areas/places with clearly established boundaries of the infected

area/place marked by warning signs.
• Community awareness campaigns and systems for the public to report rabid dogs so
the government can respond to quickly remove highly suspect dogs. This reduces human
exposures and gives the program a much more community-friendly face than culling many
dogs.
• Accurate surveillance and timely reporting will help to prevent future rabies outbreaks
and contain them rapidly if they do occur.

Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) | www.rabiesalliance.org 2

 • Control of dog movements into and out of infected areas/places to reduce opportunities
for potentially infected animals to come in contact with susceptible animals.
• Adequate access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to ensure that people bitten by
dogs that may have rabies are protected.
• Temporary holding facilities should be used to confine suspect dogs within the infected
area for observation. Euthanasia is acceptable for highly suspect rabid dogs and
unvaccinated dogs that have been bitten by such dogs, but should always follow humane
guidelines.

In an emergency situation, the focus should not be on reducing the dog population [17]. If desired,
a longer-term population management programs can be put in place once the outbreak has been
brought under control [18].

Steps should be taken to create a national rabies elimination strategy if one does not already
exist. This should be properly funded and staffed to enable effective implementation. Proper
surveillance, set up as part of this strategy, will help to prevent future rabies outbreaks and contain
them rapidly if they do occur. High levels of canine vaccination must be maintained to prevent any
outbreaks from establishing and spreading.

How can we eliminate rabies for good?

Only mass vaccination of dogs will eliminate the disease from the dog population and thus protect
the community from the risk of rabies in the long term [19]. High levels of dog vaccination must
be maintained to prevent rabies from spreading. Dog vaccination is thus the backbone of the
global framework to end human rabies, which set a goal of an end to human deaths due to dog
transmitted rabies by 2030 [20].

In support of this goal, tools and resources to enable countries to plan and implement a
comprehensive rabies elimination program have been developed [21, 22] and capacity building
networks are being strengthened [23].

Elimination of rabies from dog populations and an end to the threat of rabies can be achieved.
Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) | www.rabiesalliance.org 3
#EndRabiesNow #Zeroby30.

References
1. Hiby, E. (2013), Dog Population Management, in Dogs, Zoonoses and Public Health 2nd
edition, C.L.M. Macpherson, F.-X. Meslin, and A.I. Wandeler, Editors. CAB International.
p. 177-204.
2. Krishna, C.S. (2010), The Success of the ABC-AR Programme in India.
3. Tenzin, T., et al. (2015), Free-roaming dog population estimation and status of the dog
population management and rabies control program in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. PLoS
Negl Trop Dis, 2015. 9(5): p. e0003784.
4. Beran, G.W. and M. Frith (1988), Domestic animal rabies control: an overview. Rev Infect
Dis, 1988. 10 Suppl 4: p. S672-7.
5. Windiyaningsih, C., et al. (2004), The rabies epidemic on Flores Island, Indonesia (1998-
2003). J Med Assoc Thai, 2004. 87(11): p. 1389-93.
6. Hossain, M., et al. (2011), Five-year (January 2004-December 2008) surveillance on
animal bite and rabies vaccine utilization in the Infectious Disease Hospital, Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Vaccine, 2011. 29(5): p. 1036-40.
7. Putra, A.A., et al. (2013), Response to a rabies epidemic, Bali, Indonesia, 2008-2011.
Emerg Infect Dis, 2013. 19(4): p. 648-51.
8. Yoak, A.J., et al. (2016), Optimizing free-roaming dog control programs using agent-
basedmodels. Ecological Modelling, 2016. 341: p. 53–61.
9. Nunes, C.M., et al. (2008), Dog culling and replacement in an area endemic for visceral
leishmaniasis in Brazil. Vet Parasitol, 2008. 153(1-2): p. 19-23.
10. Moreira, E.D., et al. (2004), Assessment of an optimized dog-culling program in the
dynamics of canine Leishmania transmission. Veterinary Parasitology, 2004. 122: p. 245-
252.
11. Cleaveland, S., et al. (2014), Rabies control and elimination: a test case for One Health.
Vet Rec, 2014. 175(8): p. 188-93.
12. Reece, J.F. (2005), Dogs and Dog Control in Developing Countries, in The state of the
Animals III, D.J. Salem and A.N. Rowan, Editors. Humane Society Press: Washington,
DC. p. 55-64.
Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) | www.rabiesalliance.org 4
13. Townsend, S.E., et al. (2013), Designing programs for eliminating canine rabies from
islands: Bali, Indonesia as a case study. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2013. 7(8): p. e2372.
14. Wera, E., et al. (2013), Costs of rabies control: an economic calculation method applied
to flores island. PLoS One, 2013. 8(12): p. e83654.
15. Cochrane, J. (2015),Beach Dogs, a Bitten Girl and a Roiling Debate in Bali, in The New
York Times.
16. WHO (2013), WHO Expert Consultation on Rabies, Second report, in WHO Technical
Report Series 982World Health Organization: Geneva.
17. Coleman, P.G. and C. Dye (1996), Immunization coverage required to prevent outbreaks
of dog rabies. Vaccine, 1996. 14(3): p. 185-6.
18. Taylor, L.H., et al. (2017), The Role of Dog Population Management in Rabies Elimination-
A Review of Current Approaches and Future Opportunities. Front Vet Sci, 2017. 4: p. 109.
19. Abela-Ridder, B., et al. (2016), 2016: the beginning of the end of rabies? Lancet Glob
Health, 2016. 4(11): p. e780-e781.
20. OIE (2016), Global strategic framework for the elimination of dog-mediated human rabies.
2016 [cited 2016 Sept 6th]; Available from: http://www.oie.int/for-the-media/press-
releases/detail/article/global-strategic-framework-for-the-elimination-of-dog-mediated-
human-rabies/.
21. Coetzer, A., et al. (2016), The SARE tool for rabies control: Current experience in Ethiopia.
Antiviral Res, 2016. 135: p. 74-80.
22. Scott, T.P., et al. (2017), Addressing the Disconnect between the Estimated, Reported,
and True Rabies Data: The Development of a Regional African Rabies Bulletin. Front Vet
Sci, 2017. 4: p. 18.
23. Scott, T.P., et al. (2015), The Pan-African Rabies Control Network (PARACON): A unified
approach to eliminating canine rabies in Africa. Antiviral Res, 2015. 124: p. 93-100.

Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) | www.rabiesalliance.org 5