British woman whose mum died of rabies takes part in record-breaking dog vaccination drive

A NURSE whose mum lost her life to rabies has played a crucial role in a mass dog vaccination drive in Cambodia, aimed at protecting people and animals from the deadly disease.

The project was spearheaded by UK animal charity Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS), as part of their Mission Rabies project, in collaboration with the Cambodian government.

From October 20 to November 2, more than 221,000 dogs received free rabies vaccinations. On October 23, more than 10,000 dogs were vaccinated in just one day, the highest ever on any of the charity's campaigns around the world.

Robyn Thomson signed up to volunteer with the charity after losing her mother, Yvonne Ford, to rabies in June, and has been working to improve awareness of the disease.

Robyn Thomson wants to prevent others from suffering like her mum

She said: 'In February this year, my mum was scratched by a dog in Morocco which resulted in her losing her life to rabies.

“She passed away in June, and I then knew that I needed to make a difference and try to get rid of this horrible illness. Watching my mum being so poorly from rabies was just horrendous and I don’t want anybody else to suffer like she did.

“I want people to think twice and not underestimate rabies. If you are going on holiday and are planning to interact with animals, then get vaccinated. Vaccination is the biggest key to all of this.

“The opportunity came up to do the campaign with Mission Rabies and I had to grab it with both hands.

“My mum was such an incredible woman and she’s my biggest force to do any of this. She would be cheering me on and telling me to go and do it. I’m so proud that we can make a difference here and I wish that more people could do it.

“The Mission Rabies team has been so incredibly kind, from the minute I had the phone call with Luke to booking onto the trip, everyone has been so helpful.

“I’m hoping that I can keep spreading awareness and get more people on-board. The sooner we can eliminate rabies the better.”

Robyn and her husband Andrew worked alongside more than 750 people participating in the campaign, vaccinating across the provinces of Provinces of Phnom Penh, Kandal, and Battambang.

More than 50 international volunteers and over 250 Cambodian veterinary students helped to form 343 vaccination teams on the ground, working door-to-door to administer the anti-rabies vaccines.

This was the third annual campaign delivered in the country, and was Asia’s largest rabies dog vaccination drive to date.

On the fourth day of the project, the teams took part in a ‘Dragon Challenge’ aiming to vaccinate a staggering 10,000 dogs in just one day and 10,318 vaccinations were successfully administered, making it the highest number of dogs ever vaccinated by volunteer teams in a single day during any Mission Rabies project to date.

Luke Gamble, founder and CEO of Mission Rabies/WVS, said: “Both Robyn and Andrew have been an inspiration to all of us.

Volunteers travelled across Cambodia during the vaccination drive

“They worked tirelessly and were a huge asset to the charity. This isn’t easy work - it’s going door to door, from dawn till dusk in intense heat, to reach every dog we can.

“I’m so incredibly grateful to them and all the other amazing volunteers who make this possible.

“It was also uplifting to see that now, in our third year of running the campaign, how supportive the local communities were - families bringing their dogs forward to be vaccinated.

“This is what true collaboration looks like. This is how we beat rabies. And together, we can stop people and animals dying from this horrific disease - once and for all.”

Rabies kills a child at least every nine minutes and is endemic in over 150 countries. However, it is preventable and mass dog vaccination programmes have proven to be the most effective way to stop the spread of the disease.

In all its global projects, WVS aims to vaccinate 70% of the canine population, which is the coverage needed to break the cycle of transmission and eliminate the disease in dog populations and prevent human deaths.

Children under 15 years of age are particularly vulnerable to rabies. Ahead of the campaign, a school-based rabies education programme was delivered to improve awareness of rabies.

Children were taught how to avoid being bitten by a dog and what to do if that happens. The programme reached nearly 640,000 students across Phnom Penh, Kandal, Battambang, and Kampot Provinces.

The Dorset-based charity also deployed a mobile treatment team for the duration of the campaign, providing veterinary assistance when volunteers identified animals in need of urgent care.

The mobile teams treated 1,417 animals, attending to a diverse range of cases from severe skin disease and tick fever to animals requiring amputations and chemotherapy.

For cases requiring further treatment or surgery, animals were taken back to the WVS Cambodia clinic based in Phnom Penh.

The mass vaccination drive will return in 2026 in collaboration with General Directorate of Animal Health and Production.

To find out more about the work of Mission Rabies and how to get involved at missionrabies.com