World Rabies Day Awards 2016: Awardee Profile - Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society

Last year saw the launch of the World Rabies Day Awards, organised by GARC with  MSD Animal Health. The awards celebrated heroes in the field of rabies prevention, both individuals and organisations across the world. In the run up to World Rabies Day 2017 and the second annual World Rabies Day Awards, we'll be profiling some of the worthy awardees from last year.

The awardee in the organisation category in the Sub-Saharan Africa region was the Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society (LAWCS), a non-governmental organisation based in Voinjama, Liberia. There are around 225 human deaths from rabies in the country each year, mainly spread to humans from rabid dogs. There is very limited access in the country to rabies vaccines for dogs and post-exposure prophylaxis for humans. Animal welfare as a concept in Liberia is relatively new with much of the population viewing dogs as simply there for human needs, and these animals are often treated cruelly.

Prior to LAWCS starting their work, if there was a rabies outbreak in the region, the dogs would be randomly killed and sometimes eaten. The gaps in the canine population would then be filled with dogs brought in from other areas. As these new dogs would be unvaccinated the disease would start to spread again.

LAWCS, as an animal welfare organization, saw this and devised another way to address the issue of rabies in Liberia:

1. Improve the health of the dogs through veterinary care and treatment including rabies vaccination, spay and neuter program, etc

2. Establish a dog bite prevention education program in the schools to educate the children (the main victims of dog bites) about rabies and dog bite prevention

3. Community outreach education- educating dog owners about rabies and responsible dog ownership, and anti-dog meat eating program.

Since the establishment of these programs in 2010, there has been no mass killing of dogs, and the incidents of dog bites have drastically reduced with over 10,000 dog owners trained on rabies awareness and prevention. Every year in September, to mark World Rabies Day, LAWCS holds events to raise awareness of different aspects of rabies. In recent years these have included dog behaviour and bite awareness, anti-dog meat messages and pet care education programmes. Over 50,000 children have been reached across 50 schools by the LAWCS Humane Education Programme, helping to raise awareness of animal welfare and rabies prevention in the next generation.

These programs continue to make tremendous impacts in creating awareness about rabies, providing basic care and treatment to dogs and reducing the dog bite incidence in Lofa County.

LAWCS is currently working on a programme that focuses on a One Health approach, covering the human and animal health sectors. Utilizing this approach, it facilitates and coordinates community and school-based education programmes on rabies awareness and prevention. This is coupled with free basic dog healthcare services, including rabies vaccination campaigns. This programme will be concluded in September to mark World Rabies Day. 

We welcome individual and organisation nominations for the 2017 World Rabies Day Awards - if you know a rabies prevention champion or you work in the field yourself, please send in a nomination here.