Hunters offered €15 per fox or raccoon dog shot to help monitor rabies vaccination
Latvia's Food and Veterinary Service is accepting shot foxes and raccoon dogs from hunters in the eastern border area to test how well wildlife rabies vaccination works. Hunters can receive €15 compensation per animal, but their interest is reportedly low.
Latvia's Food and Veterinary Service (PVD) is accepting foxes and raccoon dogs shot by hunters in the country's eastern border area, in order to assess how effective the rabies vaccination of wild animals has been. A hunter can receive €15 in compensation for each animal delivered.
How the check works
The PVD carries out the effectiveness check in autumn, once 30 days have passed since wild animals were vaccinated. Animals shot in the vaccinated zones are examined in a laboratory to determine whether they ate the vaccine bait and are immune to the rabies virus. The zones include the parishes of Apē, Gaujiena, Grundzāle, Trapene and Viresi in Smiltene municipality, as well as the town of Apē.
The national animal infectious disease surveillance plan sets the total at 600 samples. Only ten are planned for the North Vidzeme area. Mārcis Ulmanis, head of the PVD's North Vidzeme office, explains that the number of samples is chosen in proportion to the vaccinated territory, which is small in this region.
Hunters active along the eastern border can contact the PVD's regional units to clarify the number of samples needed and other details.
Low interest among hunters
Ulmanis says hunter interest is not particularly high. Hunters must deliver the animal to the PVD themselves, and the distance to Valmiera is large, so nobody wants to make a special trip for such compensation.
Results from the previous year
The 2025 checks showed that 86% of the examined animals had eaten the vaccine, and 70% of those had antibody levels sufficient to protect against rabies.
About the disease
Rabies is a dangerous, incurable infectious disease that threatens the lives of animals and people. Pets, most often unvaccinated dogs and cats, become infected after contact with sick wild animals. The only effective prevention is timely vaccination. The PVD's rabies control programme has been approved and is co-financed by the European Commission.
Given the spread of rabies in neighbouring countries, the PVD urges owners to vaccinate pets regularly and to report every suspected case to a veterinarian or the service.
