Twenty-two people in the Philippine region of Western Visayas who ate dog meat were administered a vaccine for rabies after one of their canine-eating companions died of the disease.
According to Ronald Guillermo, head of the Cuartero Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office in the region’s Capiz province, 23 Filipinos consumed alcohol and dog meat some time in August, Panay News reported. One of them, identified as Roberto Caballero, was taken to Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital for possible rabies infection on September 24. He died the next day.
After Caballero’s death, the remaining 22 people were injected with two batches of a vaccine for rabies at the Provincial Health Office. The first batches was administered on September 26 and the second on September 28.
In Asia, Vietnam is the world’s second-largest consumer of dog meat after China. Animal-rights groups have been fighting to ban the dog-meat trade in these countries, as well as in Indonesia.
Read: Dog meat infected with rabies found in Indonesian market
Read: Hanoi vows to eliminate all dog meat restaurants by 2021