Ukraine is considered a risk area for rabies. Due to the war situation, the refugees are allowed to bring their pets with them to Switzerland without being vaccinated.
A woman rescues herself and her dog from a bombed neighborhood in Kyiv.
When you flee a country, you have to leave almost all of your belongings behind. Unfortunately, this often includes pets. Nevertheless, many take their valuable companions with them when they flee. 874 Ukrainians registered in Switzerland on Wednesday alone. The number has been increasing for days. And with it the number of pets taken from Ukraine.
The same development can be seen on the Zurich Allmend, where the hall sports hall was converted into a dormitory in two days. According to the director of the Zurich asylum organization, Andreas Roschi, with the increasing number of Ukrainian refugees, more and more dogs and cats are coming.
However, Ukraine is considered a risk country for rabies. Unlike in Switzerland, the deadly viral disease has not been eradicated there. Many animals are not vaccinated against it. Normally, only vaccinated animals from risk countries are allowed to enter Switzerland.
Rabies antibody test
Because of the war situation, however, Switzerland is turning a blind eye, and dogs and cats from the Ukraine that do not meet all the import requirements can also be brought along. However, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (BLV) requires owners to fill out a registration form when entering Switzerland and to check whether each pet has the necessary vaccination protection.
This check works in a similar way to an antibody test for Corona. Blood is taken from the animals and then it is checked in the laboratory whether the cats and dogs have enough rabies antibodies.
If in doubt, the animals must be quarantined – either with their owners or in an animal shelter. However, it is difficult to say how great the risk of rabies is for Switzerland and Zurich. An individual risk assessment is carried out for each animal, writes the Zurich Veterinary Office on request. You are in close contact with the Zurich animal protection organizations, which have also coordinated with each other.
It all started with a cat
About a week ago, Zurich Animal Welfare set up a network of nine animal shelters and animal boarding houses so that the animals that had fled received protection and care. The manager of the Zurich animal welfare, Rommy Los, now draws a first balance to the NZZ:
“It all started with a cat on March 1st, when a woman couldn’t take her animal to the Federal Asylum Center in Zurich. At the end of last week, for example, we had an inquiry from Winterthur for five dogs and two cats,” says Los. The topic is definitely becoming more present, so far the Zurich animal protection has received almost twenty inquiries.
The animals are currently being moved to animal shelters in the regional network. Hundreds of care places can be provided for dogs, cats, small animals and birds in a very short time. Nevertheless, there is a bottleneck. According to Los, there are not many places where employees are protected against rabies. “However, many animals are suspected of having rabies and have to be quarantined,” says the manager, and he explains that this is sometimes carried out by the owners, but not always.
Vaccination does not provide complete protection
For a quarantine place, however, vaccinated staff are required. And even if the caregiver has been vaccinated against rabies, that does not provide conclusive protection, says Los. After being bitten or scratched by an animal suspected of having rabies or if you have had contact with saliva, two further vaccinations are necessary.
The animal keepers are not afraid, but after the corona vaccinations they also do not want to be vaccinated twice again, as the manager describes the situation. Therefore, great importance is attached to keeping physical contact with the dogs and cats as little as possible.
In addition to a ban on contact between animals and humans, there is also a ban on contact between animals. In contrast to cats, dogs are allowed to go out into the fresh air, but contact with other dogs must be avoided.
Of course, the goal remains that the animals can spend their quarantine with their owners and do not have to stay in the shelter for long. Because the situation is not easy for the four-legged friends either.