Initiative highlights ‘Stronger Together’ theme of World Rabies Day
Battersea and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) have joined forces to vaccinate more than 4,000 dogs and cats against rabies across South Africa.
Working alongside two South African Rabies Centres of Excellence — Animal Relief for Rural Communities (ARRC) and Hoedspruit Animal Outreach (HALO) — the partnership vaccinated 4,174 dogs and cats across nine rural communities in Limpopo.
The initiative highlights World Rabies Day under the theme ‘Stronger Together’, supporting the global goal of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
Limpopo is one of four key areas in South Africa where targeted rabies vaccinations could eliminate more than 90 per cent of dog-mediated rabies. Through door-to-door outreach and stationary clinics, the organisations also distributed 2,000 educational sheets and 50 awareness posters.
Lani Anagnostou, one of ARRC’s Directors, said: “Working jointly with HALO enabled us to combine our field experience, local knowledge and established relationships to overcome challenges and reach more communities.
“Each organisation was able to play to its strengths to ultimately strengthen the impact of our rabies prevention efforts, and we look forward to further collaboration with HALO, including larger-scale projects and community services.”
Dr Andre Coetzer, CEO at GARC, added: “The Stronger Together theme of World Rabies Day 2026 reminds us that through collaboration across local, national and international levels, we can make a rabies-free future a reality.
“The work of organisations such as ARRC and HALO shows the impact that collaboration can have on the ground, and we now need this spirit of partnership to extend across communities, other organisations, governments and international partners to accelerate progress towards rabies elimination.”
Image (C) Talukdar David/Shutterstock.
Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.
