Stop Strychnine Poisoning of Bali's Dogs

The balinese authorities have started their ethically unacceptable plan to kill 250.000 dogs in an attempt to stop rabies.
While this may seem to make perfect sense... it actually makes no sense at all. The rabies control strategy recommended by the World Health Organization, WSPA, the Alliance for Rabies Control, and the National Association of Public Health Veterinarians calls for vaccinating the entire dog and cat population if possible, 70% at minimum, to create a vaccinated barrier between infected animals and other animals and people. The WHO has advised the balinese authorities as such, and offered help in a vaccination program but to date, the local government has ignored both the advice and the offer for help, and has stepped up its efforts to kill all dogs.

In newspapers and letters, Bali's governor, Mangku Pastika, has asked the balinese people to actively help in killing the dogs. Bali TV is now running a commercial, wrongly informing the population about the rabies problem, scaring and encouraging them into killing healthy dogs. When in fact, healthy vaccinated dogs could effectively stop the spread of rabies.

Over the past 3 months, thousands of dogs have already been killed... but so far only 10 proved positive for rabies and they were all killed in the same area, december 2008. Since then, only healthy rabies-free dogs have been senselessly slaughtered in an unacceptably cruel way. Thousands are being killed every week. The method used by balinese authorities is strychnine poisoning, which leads to 20-30 minutes of agonizing suffering before the animal dies.

Everyday now, hundreds of dogs are being murdered in a cruel manner that is not accepted, or even legal, in most other civilized countries in the world... for no reason at all as it will not stop the rabies in any way. As such it is pointless, unethical cruelty on a massive scale that does not belong on a civilized island like Bali, does not stroke with its culture or its Hindu religion, which clearly respects life. It's hard to find any respect for life in the senseless killing of man's best friend.

This petition urges Bali authorities to stop its useless and unethical 'rabies prevention program' and to follow the recommendations of the WHO, WSPA, ARC and others... like other civilized countries do.

Please sign for the sake of 250.000 innocent healthy dogs..... even if you do not particularly like dogs... because no innocent creature should have to die a useless agonizing death.
Please sign out of respect for life and ask friends and relatives to do the same... everyday counts, because everyday hundreds of dogs die cruelly in Bali for no good reason.