This study was done to determine the effect of a Municipal Rabies Prevention and Control Program (MRPCP) on the knowledge and practices regarding Rabies and Responsible Pet Ownership of dog owners in Liloy Municipality, Zamboanga del Norte. Convenience sampling was used to gather the respondents and survey questionnaires were administered in vernacular before and after the intervention. The respondents of this study were dog owners in Liloy, 18 years old and above. Strategies of the program, which include information campaign (film-showing, pamphlets, posters), mass dog registration and vaccination, were utilized in order to improve knowledge and practices on rabies and responsible pet ownership. Paired t-test was used to analyze the results for the knowledge while McNemar’s test was used for the practices. Results revealed a significant increase in the mean scores on the knowledge on Rabies and Responsible Pet Ownership from 2.66 to 4.53 and from 1.44 to 2.99, respectively. Practices on Responsible Pet Ownership also showed improvement from 0 dog owners, who registered their dogs during pre-intervention, to 1,069(99.8%) dog owners during post-intervention and from 58(5%) dog owners, who vaccinated their dogs during pre-intervention, to 960 (90%) dog owners during post-intervention. The number of registered dogs increased from 0 to 1,232 (99.8%) and the number of vaccinated dogs increased from 63(5%) to 1,111(90%) during post-intervention. In conclusion, MRPCP has an effect on the knowledge and practices regarding Rabies and Responsible Pet Ownership of dog owners in Liloy Municipality, Zamboanga del Norte.

Keyword: RABIES PREVENTION RESPONSIBLE PET OWNERSHIP KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES ON RABIES