Evaluation of Community-Based Dog Welfare and Rabies Project in Sanur, a Sub-district of the Indonesian Island Province of Bali

Abstract

The Indonesian island province of Bali experienced its first rabies incursion in 2008. Mass vaccination of the dog population has proven effective and rabies cases in dogs and people have decreased, however the virus is still circulating among the dog population. Vaccination coverage must be maintained until rabies elimination. Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of vaccination campaigns is therefore desired. Community engagement leading to preventative health actions by community members can reduce disease incidence and costs of control. Here we evaluate 2 years of a novel community-based dog welfare and rabies control project (Program Dharma) in the Sanur sub-district. The project engaged the services of people living in the project area with an interest or experience in dogs or community health services. These people spoke with owners within their own community about dog welfare and health, monitored owned and unowned dogs and increased owner and carer efforts to access vaccination and further veterinary services. The evaluation focused on a sample of dogs whose owners had been regularly engaged with project. Vaccination coverage was increased and there were no dog or human rabies cases reported in the project area; the percentage of the dogs that had never been vaccinated was reduced by an average 28.3% (baseline unvaccinated 41–49%, post-project unvaccinated 11–19%). The welfare of dogs improved from an average of 20.7% of dogs with visible welfare problems at baseline to 2.7% after project implementation. Roaming dog density observed on street surveys also decreased in all project areas (24–47% reduction dependent on desa ). A participatory evaluation event with a sample of Program Dharma community-based agents highlighted several additional successes, including that the community appeared to welcome and value their services and were beginning to support the cost of project activities. Conversely, challenges included identifying dogs in the database during revisits, sustaining the costs of community member time spent working on Program Dharma activities and the costs of veterinary care, whilst avoiding dependency of owners on free veterinary services. The benefits revealed by the evaluation were judged to be sufficient to extend Program Dharma to new areas, whilst evolving activities to resolve challenges.

Human Behaviour Change Interventions in Animal Care and Interactive Settings: A Review and Framework for Design and Evaluation

“…Sometimes behaviours were only broadly defined in the methodology, but able to be deduced from the evaluation measurements used. For example, Utami et al [ 47 ] aimed for owners to ‘provide better care [for] their dogs’ (p. 2), and for dogs to be presented for vaccination (p. 3). Evaluation measures included self-reported confinement practices and animal outcomes such as body condition scores, skin problems, and sterilisation status.…”

“…Two studies utilised the Theory of Change approach [ 47 , 66 ] which is characterised by first defining a long-term goal before mapping backwards the steps required to reach that goal. The application of this theory by Utami et al [ 47 ] demonstrated the proposed relationships between target owner behaviours (‘guardians take good care of dogs’ and ‘dogs are presented for vaccination’ p. 3) and their ultimate goal (rabies control), but did not incorporate antecedents of the target behaviours. Therefore, they did not articulate the mechanism of change, i.e., how the intervention would change behaviour.…”

“…Aside from simple education sessions, there were several different intervention approaches that warrant highlighting. Utami et al [ 47 ] used a multifaceted community-based program incorporating both education and direct support (free veterinary services and health days). They trained members of the community to go door to door within their own village, surveying, documenting, and generally promoting the program.…”

“…Companion animal-related studies were primarily conducted with children in the school environment, focusing on dog bite prevention and related 'responsible pet ownership' practices. Interventions with adults included two studies on cat containment and overpopulation [41,42], two studies on dog obesity [43,44], general cat and dog management in the community [45], rabies prevention [46,47], and dog behaviour and the human-animal relationship [48].…”

“…Trap-neuter-release program for stray cats [41] Community health days-free preventative veterinary care [47] Provision of trained community-based agents to support community members with troubleshooting dog-related concerns [47] Provision of practical services and support for change (CT, SCogT) AM20 Plan social support/social change K54 Obtain practical social support Community service provision AM = technique categorised from Abraham and Michie Taxonomy [6]; K = from Knittle et al, compendium [21].…”