Notes

AFP World Rabies Day Activity – PRO DOG: Pet Responsible Ownership of Dogs

The Armed Forces of the Philippines Veterinary Dispensary (AFPVD) also took part in the WRD celebration. This is the second year that the AFPVD collaborated with GARC for their school-based activities. The event which revolved around the theme “Our Commitment, our responsibility” and “End Rabies Together,” conducted in Fort Aguinaldo Elementary School (FAES) last 30 September 2015.

A joint opening program was held together with the parents, students, AFPVD, and GARC staff. The Officer-in-charge of FAES, Leonarda Dimailig, gave a welcome address while 1st Lt. Carina Flores introduced AFPVD and GARC and gave a background about the WRD celebration. The students then proceeded to the Audio Visual Presentation (AVP) room for their separate activities while the parents stayed in the covered court.

Parents’ session
The key message for the parents is to encourage their children to tell them whenever they are bitten or scratched by animals especially dogs and cats that may have rabies. The lecture also aimed to correct their misconceptions about the disease, how to prevent it through responsible pet ownership, vaccination, proper bite management, and abiding by the law. 29 parents attended the event.

Most of the parents have heard of rabies either from the radio or television. Five of them said they were bitten by dogs before but only two went to the doctor. The other three either put garlic, went to the tandok (faith healer) that used black stone and “sipsip”. Few of them owned a dog with anti-rabies vaccination.

An interactive lecture was conducted where basic knowledge about the disease and its prevention were discussed. Among the signs of rabies in humans, they were aware of the following: profuse salivation, hydrophobia, scared of light, and the dog going wild. The questions asked after the lecture focused more on responsible pet ownership and the local program on stray dogs. Col. Bernard Bernardo, the Commanding Officer of AFPVD shared that they give free anti-rabies vaccine in the clinic and impound the stray animals inside the camp. As take-home materials, the parents were given brochures about rabies.

Student’s session
As for the children, the aim of the activity is to encourage them not be afraid to tell their parents or guardians when they are bitten or scratched by a dog or cat for immediate action. 55 Grade 2 students participated in the activity.

The children were given name tags for a more intimate interaction by calling them by their nickname. An AVP that focused more on how to take care of pets and basic knowledge about rabies was shown followed by a storytelling session led by one of the Grade 2 advisers, Mrs. Bernadette Aquino. The story is titled “Si Buboy, Bino at Bantay Magkakaibigang Tunay” (Buboy, Bino, and Bantay Friends for Life). The children listened attentively to the story and were able to answer questions such as the characters and lessons learned about what to do when bitten and how to prevent dog bites.

To sustain their interest, the children were divided into three groups for activities such as coloring of dog mask, origami-making of dogs, and dog puppet-making. The GARC team facilitated this session with the help of the teachers and AFPVD staff. To gauge the children’s learning, an evaluation was conducted after the activity. Two evaluation methods were used, the first of which was sequencing the steps when bitten by a dog or cat. Out of the 55 student respondents, 69% answered correctly that the first thing to do was to tell the parents or guardians, 67% of them got the second step correctly which was to wash the wound properly, and 91% answered that the third was to go to a clinic. The children were also asked to identify the proper ways to take care of a dog using photos from Dr. Sophia Yin’s website (http://drsophiayin.com/). They received comics and coloring books as take-home materials.