panaji not a single case of dogmediated human rabies has been reported in goa till august this year this is according to statistics obtained from the directorate of health services three years ago 17 human death cases were reported which drastically dropped down to five and one in 2015 and 2016 respectivelythe improved statistics are thanks to mission rabies goa a drive that has managed to successfully vaccinate thousands of dogs in the state since operations kickstarted in 2014 the initiative carried out in collaboration with the directorate of animal husbandry and veterinary services ahvs envisions a rabiesfree goa by august 2018rabies is a fatal disease there is no treatment for this disease but it is preventable vaccination can neutralize the virus said director ahvs dr santosh desaimission volunteers along with veterinarians and dogngos have been tackling the disease by injecting both stray as well as domestic dogs with the antirabies vaccinewe have managed to vaccinate 70 of goas dog population this mission has to be carried out in a timebound manner only then will we be able to achieve expected results desai saidwhile efforts in rabies prevention are being made citizens are still plagued with the issue of stray dogs and the vulnerability to bitestoi had reported last month that 50 people are bitten by dogs on an average daily in the state and since 2012 over one lakh dog bite cases have been reported from across the stateto control the states 50000plus stray dog population the government offers the small animal rescue scheme aimed at capturing strays and sterilizing the animals before releasing them back into their domain yet only 11 civic bodies who have signed memorandum of understanding with animal welfare organizations have come forward to avail of the sameporvorim is a hotspot for stray and rabid dogs in the last 45 days we have caught at least three rabid dogs in the area civic bodies should avail of the goa governments small animal rescue scheme but they dont seem to understand the gravity of the situation said mission rabies helpline coordinator kavita dsilvalocal ngo people for animals pfa has been roped in by the animal husbandry department to implement this scheme at the various civic bodieswe are actively capturing and sterilizing stray dogs we keep them under our care for three days before releasing them back into their habitat domestic dog owners should also responsibly sterilize their dogs to control the population sarita bhatia from pfa saidgoa is a small place logistics are easy and it is possible to control the rabies virus in case of an outbreak the stray dog population is being controlled through ahvs schemes but it will take a while till the numbers decrease a senior veterinary doctor saidstray dogs usually bite in selfdefence or when their environment is disturbed every dog bite is not a rabid one but the victim must complete the vaccination schedule said assistant director ahvs dr vilas naik