5,000 dogs culled in one Chinese city after rabies leaves five dead
Another 100,000 dogs vaccinated in Baoshan city's first anti-rabies campaign
Chinese authorities killed almost 5,000 dogs in one city after blaming five human deaths on rabies, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.
The city of Baoshan in southwestern Yunnan province killed 4,900 dogs and vaccinated another 100,000 in its anti-rabies campaign, Xinhua said.
The city issued an urgent order calling for authorities to kill stray dogs and tightly regulate the animals.
Chinese governments often order such widespread dog culls or ban dog ownership to control the spread of rabies. That has sparked outcry from some dog owners and animal rights activists who call for sterilizing and vaccinating dogs rather than killing them.
Rabies is a potentially fatal disease spread to humans via contact with an infected animal’s saliva. When left untreated, the virus causes inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, according to the WHO.
In 2009, authorities in the northern city of Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province reportedly killed about 37,000 dogs after a rabies outbreak, including clubbing some of the animals to death.