Bhutan has opened a new animal shelter in Thimphu, strengthening its animal welfare and rabies-control efforts shortly after becoming the first country in the WHO South-East Asia Region to eliminate dog-transmitted human rabies as a public health problem.
Queen Mother Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck inaugurated the Nu 11.7 million facility, established by the Royal Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (RSPCA Bhutan), on World Rabies Day on September 28. The shelter includes a day-care centre, intensive care unit and facilities for injured, abandoned and rescued animals. It will also provide temporary and long-term care for animals that cannot immediately be released or rehomed.
The facility was funded through the Government of India’s Project Tied Assistance Fund, with additional support from Project Dantak, De-suung and the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation. The opening comes weeks after the WHO validated Bhutan’s elimination of dog-transmitted human rabies on September 4. The country has recorded no human deaths from dog-transmitted rabies since June 2023.
Bhutan will continue free access to post-exposure treatment, mass dog vaccination, population management and disease surveillance. Authorities also plan to strengthen coordination with neighbouring Indian states to prevent the reintroduction of rabies. At the inauguration, RSPCA Bhutan also launched Dongkola,The Dog Bull, a children’s book promoting animal welfare, with proceeds supporting the organisation’s programmes.