The Use of Dog Collars Offers Significant Benefits to Rabies Vaccination Campaigns: The Case of Zanzibar, Tanzania
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Dog Vaccination and the Use of the ‘Rabies Vaccination’ Collars
2.2. Study Area for Survey
2.3. Study Design and Sample Size
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Socio-Demographic Characteristics
3.2. General Perception of Community Dogs
3.3. Health-Seeking Behaviour
3.4. Dog Owner Participation during Rabies Vaccination Events
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Characteristic | Frequency n (%) |
---|---|
Sex | |
Female | 151 (25.17) |
Male | 449 (74.83) |
Age | |
18–29 | 221 (36.83) |
30–39 | 161 (26.83) |
40–49 | 100 (16.67) |
50–60 | 71 (11.83) |
>60 | 47 (7.83) |
Setting | |
Urban | 221 (36.83) |
Rural | 379 (63.17) |
Dog ownership | |
Yes | 175 (29.17) |
No | 425 (70.83) |
Characteristic | Frequency n (%) |
---|---|
Types of dog collars observed by respondents in the community (respondents, n =600) | |
Rabies vaccination collars | 262 (43.67) |
Any other dog collar | 92 (15.33) |
No collars observed | 246 (41.00) |
Reason for dogs wearing the collars (respondents, n = 262) | |
The dog is vaccinated against rabies | 205 (78.24) |
The dog has been given an injection (rabies vaccination not mentioned specifically) | 33 (12.60) |
The dog is healthy | 2 (0.76) |
The dog has a specific owner | 16 (6.11) |
Other | 6 (2.29) |
Respondent’s perception of dogs wearing collars in the community (respondents, n = 600) | |
Feeling safer | 341 (56.83) |
No change in perception | 157 (26.17) |
Feeling less safe | 102 (17.00) |
Respondent’s reaction towards dogs wearing collars in the community (respondents, n = 600) | |
Try to stay away from it | 154 (25.67) |
Try to chase it away (e.g., throwing something at it or trying to hit it with something) | 41 (6.83) |
Interact with it (e.g., touching, petting, etc.) | 105 (17.50) |
No reaction (e.g., any indifferent action like ignoring them) | 300 (50.00) |
Respondent’s perception of dogs not wearing collars in the community (respondents, n = 600) | |
Feeling safer | 46 (7.67) |
No change in perception | 156 (26.00) |
Feeling less safe | 398 (66.33) |
Respondent’s reaction towards dogs not wearing collars in the community (respondents, n = 600) | |
Try to stay away from it | 334 (55.67) |
Try to chase it away (e.g., throwing something at it or trying to hit it with something) | 99 (16.50) |
Interact with it (e.g., touching, petting, etc.) | 12 (2.00) |
No reaction (e.g., any indifferent action like ignoring them) | 155 (25.83) |
Respondents who observed dogs being killed in the community (respondents, n = 600) | |
Yes | 96 (16.00) |
No | 504 (84.00) |
Dogs killed while wearing collars (respondents, n = 96) | |
Yes | 15 (15.63) |
No | 67 (69.79) |
Unsure | 14 (14.58) |
Reasons for dogs with collars being killed (respondents, n = 15) | |
The dog bit someone | 1 (6.67) |
The dog was sick | 12 (80.00) |
The dog was being a nuisance in the community | 1 (6.67) |
The dog was hit by a car | 1 (6.67) |
Reasons for dogs without collars being killed (respondents, n = 67) | |
The dog bit someone | 15 (22.39) |
The dog was sick | 27 (40.30) |
The dog was being a nuisance in the community | 15 (22.39) |
The dog was hit by a car | 3 (4.48) |
Unknown reason | 7 (10.45) |
Characteristic | Frequency n (%) |
---|---|
Number of dogs owned by respondents | |
Average | 3 |
Min | 1 |
Max | 15 |
Vaccination status of respondent’s dogs (respondents, n = 175) | |
All dogs vaccinated | 122 (69.71) |
Some dogs vaccinated | 30 (17.14) |
No dogs vaccinated | 23 (13.14) |
Respondents who received a free rabies vaccination collar for their dog(s) (respondents, n = 152) | |
Yes | 142 (93.42) |
No | 10 (6.58) |
Respondents who received dog collars after rabies vaccination | |
Receiving a collar made respondents more likely to take their dog(s) for rabies vaccination (respondents, n = 142) | |
Yes | 91 (64.08) |
No | 48 (33.80) |
Unsure | 3 (2.11) |
Respondents who believed that receiving a collar was an important sign that the dog had been vaccinated against rabies specifically (respondents, n = 142) | |
Yes | 135 (95.07) |
No | 5 (3.52) |
Unsure | 2 (1.41) |
Collared status of respondent’s dogs (respondents, n = 142) | |
All dogs still wearing collars | 47 (33.10) |
Some dogs still wearing collars | 81 (57.04) |
No dogs wearing collars anymore | 14 (9.86) |
Duration the collar was worn before it was lost (respondents, n = 95) | |
Less than a week | 9 (9.47) |
1 week | 7 (7.37) |
2 weeks | 21 (22.11) |
3 weeks | 24 (25.26) |
4 weeks | 13 (13.68) |
More than a month | 21 (22.11) |
Who/What removed the collar (respondents, n = 95) | |
The dog’s owner (respondent) | 16 (16.84) |
The dog | 14 (14.74) |
Someone in the community | 3 (3.16) |
Unknown | 62 (65.26) |
Reason for the owner removing the collar(s) (respondents, n = 16) | |
The dog(s) did not like wearing the collar(s) | 2 (12.50) |
To use the collar(s) for other purposes | 0 (0.00) |
The owner did not want the dog(s) to wear a collar(s) | 4 (25.00) |
The collar was hurting the dog | 5 (31.25) |
To stop the dog from getting stuck in the bush while hunting | 4 (25.00) |
The dog died | 1 (6.25) |
Way the dog(s) removed the collar(s) (respondents, n = 14) | |
Collar lost while hunting | 2 (14.29) |
Collar lost while dogs were playing/fighting | 8 (57.14) |
Unknown | 4 (28.57) |
Respondents who did not receive dog collars after rabies vaccination (respondents, n = 10) | |
Reason why respondents did not receive a free collar for their dog(s) | |
No collar was offered by the vaccinator | 9 (90.00) |
The dog ran away before the collar could be put on it | 1 (10.00) |
Respondents who did not have their dogs vaccinated against rabies (respondents, n = 19) | |
Main reason respondent did not have their dog(s) vaccinated | |
The vaccine will make the dog(s) sick | 0 (0.00) |
The vaccine will change the behaviour of the dog(s) | 0 (0.00) |
The dog(s) was too young to be vaccinated | 4 (21.05) |
The respondent was unaware of the vaccination campaign | 4 (21.05) |
The respondent was not home during the vaccination campaign | 5 (26.32) |
No specific reason | 6 (31.58) |
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Omar, K.N.; Coetzer, A.; Hamdu, M.; Malan, A.J.; Moh’d, A.Z.; Suleiman, T.S.; Nel, L.H. The Use of Dog Collars Offers Significant Benefits to Rabies Vaccination Campaigns: The Case of Zanzibar, Tanzania. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8, 421. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8080421
Omar KN, Coetzer A, Hamdu M, Malan AJ, Moh’d AZ, Suleiman TS, Nel LH. The Use of Dog Collars Offers Significant Benefits to Rabies Vaccination Campaigns: The Case of Zanzibar, Tanzania. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2023; 8(8):421. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8080421
Chicago/Turabian StyleOmar, Khadija N., Andre Coetzer, Maulid Hamdu, Ayla J. Malan, Ali Z. Moh’d, Talib S. Suleiman, and Louis H. Nel. 2023. "The Use of Dog Collars Offers Significant Benefits to Rabies Vaccination Campaigns: The Case of Zanzibar, Tanzania" Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 8, no. 8: 421. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8080421