DENPASAR ~ Authorities have carried out a mass vaccination of animals in two areas of Denpasar city in the second wave of a programme to combat rabies.

Seventy-eight dogs and six cats were vaccinated in the exercise, which thoroughly combed the neighbourhoods of Buana Indah and Taman Harum. Twelve stray dogs were destroyed.

The vaccinations were conducted by Udayana University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Denpasar’s fisheries and marine authorities. They said a total of 36,672 dogs had been vaccinated and 771 wild dogs destroyed in the two phases of the programme.

Bali lost its rabies-free status after an outbreak of the often fatal disease in the Bukit-Jimbaran area in late 2008. Earlier this month a dog that attacked two children at Kerobokan tested positive for rabies.

There have been several confirmed rabies deaths in Bali. Control of wild dog populations on the island is being handled at local level.