Battersea and GARC spotlight rabies vaccination push in South Africa

Battersea and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control are using World Rabies Day to showcase how collaboration is expanding rabies prevention in South Africa. A local partnership in Limpopo vaccinated more than 4,000 dogs and cats in 2025, underscoring the role of coordinated action in reaching the global goal of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

Why it matters: - Rabies remains a preventable disease that still requires coordinated action across communities, animal welfare groups, veterinary services and governments. - The work in South Africa shows how local partnerships can expand vaccination, education and access to care in areas with roaming dogs and limited veterinary services. - Battersea and GARC are linking local results to the wider goal of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

What happened: - Battersea and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control marked World Rabies Day on 28 September with a focus on the theme “Stronger Together.” - The two groups highlighted rabies prevention work in South Africa, where ARRC and HALO joined forces across nine communities. - Supported by GARC’s Stronger Together grant, ARRC and HALO vaccinated 4,174 dogs and cats in 2025. - The partnership also distributed 2,000 educational information sheets and displayed 50 awareness posters in community spaces. - Battersea has funded GARC’s Communities Against Rabies programme since its launch in 2023. - South Africa has 11 Rabies Centres of Excellence recognized for community engagement and local leadership. - ARRC and Hoedspruit Animal Outreach received Rabies Centres of Excellence status in 2023.

The details: - Battersea’s Global Programmes work supports five countries, including the UK, with training and strategic funding for companion animal welfare. - In Limpopo, ARRC and HALO work in rural areas through door-to-door outreach and stationary vaccination clinics. - The organisations provide veterinary care, rabies prevention and community education in northern Limpopo. - Limpopo is one of four areas where strategic rabies vaccination could eliminate more than 90% of dog-mediated rabies in South Africa. - The CAR programme connects local organisations with expertise, tools, training and opportunities to share best practice. - Battersea said its Global Programmes team has worked since 2018 to bring organisations together and strengthen the capacity of the wider animal welfare sector.

Between the lines: - The South Africa project is being presented as a model for how local capacity and international funding can reinforce one another. - The emphasis on RCEs suggests the strategy is not only about one-time vaccination campaigns, but about building durable local infrastructure. - The collaboration also reflects a broader public health reality: eliminating rabies depends on sustained coordination, not isolated intervention. - Lani Anagnostou, one of ARRC’s directors, said the partnership let the groups combine field experience, local knowledge and relationships to reach more communities. - Simona Zito, grants and programmes manager at Battersea, said no single organisation can tackle rabies alone. - Dr Andre Coetzer, CEO at GARC Rabies Alliance, said collaboration at local and international levels is needed to make a rabies-free future a reality.

What’s next: - ARRC said it will continue collaborating with HALO on community work and larger-scale projects. - Battersea and GARC will keep using their global network to connect organisations, strengthen capacity and share effective approaches. - The broader push remains aimed at accelerating progress toward the 2030 global rabies elimination target.

The bottom line: - The South Africa partnership shows that rabies elimination gets faster when local groups, global funders and technical networks work as one.