Dogs in Cambodia bite back against rabies with help of Windsor canine carer

Windsor might not be the first place that springs to mind in the global fight against rabies.

But Katie Dibley, a canine carer for Dogs Trust Harefield, has swapped the streets of Windsor for the bustling city of Phnom Penh to help combat one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

World Rabies Day was on September 28 – and the Dogs Trust wants to celebrate Katie’s fine work.

Last October, Katie joined a major international effort led by Mission Rabies to vaccinate dogs and stop the spread of rabies in Cambodia.

In just two weeks, the team vaccinated a fur-nomenal 230,000 dogs on the streets of Phnom Penh – a milestone that will save ‘countless lives,’ says Dogs Trust.

It’s not just dog lives being saved. In places with many free-roaming unvaccinated dogs, rabies is a serious risk of death to humans.

Cambodia is considered a rabies-endemic country and dogs are the main source of rabies transmission there.

Vaccination coverage for dogs is relatively low compared to the need.

Rabies is one of the deadliest diseases known – once symptoms appear, it is virtually 100 per cent fatal in both humans and animals.

Across the world, every nine minutes, someone dies from rabies, with over 99 per cent of human cases caused by a bite from an infected dog.

More than 40 per cent of those who die from rabies are children.

Cambodia has one of the highest human rabies death rates in the world, with many hundreds of people dying each year, mostly from dog bites.

In response to the fear of rabies, millions of healthy dogs are inhumanely killed every year – despite the fact that the disease is entirely preventable.

During the vaccination drive, Katie joined other volunteers from Dogs Trust, the Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS), local vets, and community workers to humanely catch and vaccinate dogs, before returning them to their communities.  

Speaking about her experience, Katie said: “Being part of this campaign in Cambodia was life-changing.

“I work with dogs every day at Dogs Trust and never have to worry about rabies.

“But in Cambodia, many people live in fear of the dogs around them – and the dogs, in turn, suffer because of that fear.

“When we vaccinate and educate, we’re not just preventing disease – we’re building understanding and trust between communities and their dogs. “Rabies is preventable. By vaccinating dogs, we’re not only saving lives but helping people and dogs live together more safely and compassionately.”