Dog Bite Prevention

LAWCS Annual Report 2015

Jan 13

LAWCS` Humane Education Program In Liberia
Campaign Against Pet Eating/Responsible Dog Ownership
Vegan Outreach Program/Plant Based Diets for School Children
LAWCS` Basic Animal Healthcare Program
The Abandoned Chimpanzees in Liberia
Conclusion

LAWCS` Humane Education Program In Liberia

Promoting care, compassion, and respect for all animals is fundamental to preventing animal cruelty. An active step towards improving permanent conditions for all animals is humane education.

With humane education, LAWCS is making a tremendous difference in the lives of many animals and people. Currently, LAWCS is the only registered animal welfare organization in Liberia that has been providing humane education to the public. The need for education on animal welfare in Liberia is pertinent. LAWCS believes that education is key to ending animal cruelty and creating a just and caring society where animal and human welfare matter. Education is a critical element in preparing a generation of animal lovers, increasing community responsiveness to animal welfare issues. Education also helps to tackle the inhumane treatment of animals at abattoirs, educate the general population on animal welfare, and to change attitudes and practices towards humane treatment of animals. With education, we are reducing the number of children harmed by dogs through our dog bite prevention program.

Dog Bite Prevention Challenge Report – 2015

Jun 13

Duration: March to May 22, 2015

Report Date: May 26, 2015

Summary report on the activity implementation

Liberia is one of the countries in the world where little or no information is given to children about dog body language and bite prevention.

Children are being attacked by dogs due to lack of knowledge about dog safety and dog behavior; and for every child that is attacked; it is the dog that pays the ultimate price when euthanized. Before the establishment of the dog bite prevention program in Lofa County, Liberia by the Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society in partnership with Doggone Safe Canada, the dog bite incidence in Lofa County among the children was alarming, with community leaders authorizing the killing of community dogs as means of curtailing the rampant dog bite incidents. This method did not help to reduce the incidents among the children until 2011 when Doggone Safe started to empower LAWCS to educate the children about dog body language and bite prevention. Since then there has been drastic reduction in the number of dog bite incidents among children in communities visited by the program.

International Dog Bite Prevention Challenge 2013

Aug 23

The Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society (LAWCS) is a locally based animal welfare organization established in 2000 and legally registered with the government of Liberia in 2004. LAWCS renewed its legal status with the government of Liberia on January 3, 2012.

The vision of LAWCS is to create a society where the welfare of all forms of nature matter. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

Liberia is one of the countries that does not provide rabies vaccine to dogs and anti-rabies vaccine to humans. Dogs are the main carriers and transmitters of rabies in Liberia. Children have been the main victims of dog bite. In partnership with a Canadian based organization, Doggone Safe, LAWCS has been actively involved in dog bite prevention education in various schools in Lofa County using “Be a Tree“ dog bite prevention program.

From April to May, 2013, LAWCS` volunteers visited and inspired 10,076 school children in 19 schools.

Dog Bite Prevention Challenge 2012

Oct 29

morris1 Dog bite has been a serious concern in Foya District since the end of the war in 2003. In 2008, there was a mass killing of dogs in Foya as means of curtailing the spread of rabies and addressing the issue of dog bite in the District. This method failed to eliminate the spread of rabies or even significantly reduce dog bite cases in the district. Foya District is bordering with Guinea and Sierra Leone. There has always been an influx of unvaccinated dogs from those countries. The presence of large number of strange dogs in the districts has also been a threat in controlling dog bite.