Ride Against Rabies: WECare Worldwide Takes the Battle to the Streets

On World Rabies Day, a convoy of tuk tuks snaked out of Dikwella carrying an unusual cargo — coolers of vaccines, syringes, and an army of vets on a mission. For nine relentless hours, 65 volunteers from WECare Worldwide, ACAPSL (Association of Companion Animal Practitioners Sri Lanka), TukTuk Rentals, and local partners fanned out across southern towns and villages, vaccinating every animal they could reach.

By nightfall, the tally told its own story: 814 animals inoculated against rabies and a further 472 against distemper, a deadly virus now sweeping through canine populations. Numbers that matter, because in a country where over three million street dogs roam, rabies is still a lethal threat to both animals and humans. Yet, unlike many public health battles, this is one disease that is 100% preventable.

WECare Worldwide, set up in 2014 by British vet Dr. Janey Lowes after she witnessed the plight of Sri Lanka’s street dogs, has become the island’s only dedicated street-dog hospital. From its base in Gandara, Matara, WECare runs neutering, treatment, and mobile vaccination programmes. But Ride Against Rabies marked a new chapter: the first coordinated vaccination drive of its kind in Sri Lanka, uniting NGOs, private vets, and community members under a single banner — GARC’s End Rabies Now initiative.

Dr. Lowes, who has made Sri Lanka her home for over a decade, reflected on the scale of the moment: “The only way to beat rabies is together, and it was incredible to be part of a movement where NGOs, private vets, and the community all came together. This is a huge step towards a future without this deadly disease in Sri Lanka.”

Backed by Browns Veterinary Pharmaceuticals, TukTuk Rentals, and the One Health Organisation, the Ride has shown what can be achieved when resources and resolve converge. WECare has already signalled its intent: World Rabies Day 2026 will be bigger, louder, and reach further.

Rabies kills. Vaccines save. The choice, for Sri Lanka, is clear.

For more info: https://wecareworldwide.org.uk/