REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- The Balinese animal health office has intensified efforts to control the population of stray dogs on the tourist island.

"The stray dog population increases by 2.5 million per year in Bali, and therefore, it should be controlled," Head of the Balinese Animal Health Office Vet. Nata Kesuma noted here on Wednesday.

Sterilization is one of the measures taken to control the stray dog population, he pointed out.

Bali has resolved to become rabies-free by the year 2015 in order to maintain its reputation as the world's most famous resort island.

The local authorities have outlined five strategies to eradicate rabies, notably the establishment of rural cadres, vaccination, euthanization, rabies-carrier supervision, and stray dog population control, Kesuma stated.

Over the past few years, Bali authorities have routinely carried out mass vaccination programs against rabies, targeting stray and domestic dogs.

The fifth mass vaccination program against rabies is part of the government's effort to make Bali rabies-free and is being implemented since April 15 across the island, targeting 350 thousand stray dogs.

Officially launched in the Gunung Sari Village, Seririt, Buleleng District, where several dog bite cases were recently reported, the fifth mass vaccination program will be carried out until July 31.

The increasing number of stray dog population is a challenge to the mass vaccination program against rabies, Kesuma added.

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