## 4 Discussion
A similar KAP survey used in Ethiopia ([PERSON] et al., 2016) also explored people's experience of dog bites in the previous five years and the practice of bite treatment in these cases. This additional measure of actual dog bite frequency and treatment sought would have been beneficial in our study, as available bite data from local health providers lacks the geographic specificity to target only these three _desas_. The KAP survey indicated dog owners had significantly more positive attitudes to dogs, responsible dog care and vaccination than non-dog owners. However, taken as one population, people's attitudes were overall positive, with a preference for vaccination over culling to control rabies. However, there was a notable proportion of people, in particular non-dog owners, who agreed with the statement that \"Mass culling of dogs is always necessary when there is one dog with rabies in my _banjar_\". This appears to be in contrary to the agreement with the other more positive statements about dogs and vaccination as opposed to culling. However, there had been significant publicity of the opinion that culling was a necessary part of the rabies response, despite evidence to the contrary ([PERSON] et al., 2016; [PERSON] et al., 2016). Hence it appeared citizens had absorbed some of this messaging, in opposition to their generally more positive attitude to dogs; a discord that may have caused internal conflict. Public messaging on rabies in Bali had also focused on how to treat dog bites and how to spot a suspect rabid dog. This messaging appears to have been well incorporated into people's knowledge, as evidenced by the vast majority of accurate responses to the questions of what to do when bitten and what the rabies symptoms in dogs are. There was a minority of people that also mentioned using traditional medicine to treat a bite, however this may have not been their exclusive response, but alongside attendance at a bite clinic or hospital. This study highlighted that effective rabies control was potentially very achievable for these _desas_. The low percentage of unowned dogs and positive responses of dogs to both owners and T1s suggested that vaccination campaigns could easily be achieved through central point and door-to-door methods with relatively limited need for expert catchers and handlers. Respondents to the KAP also displayed good knowledge of rabies and had a positive attitude to vaccination. The current vaccination coverage of 56% was already above the critical 20-45% threshold required to prevent the dog population acting as a reservoir for rabies ([PERSON] et al., 2016), but below the 70% target for annual vaccination campaigns to maintain herd immunity above the critical threshold despite dog population turnover([PERSON] et al., 2016). The strong presence of unvaccinated dogs (44%) shows the risk of short transmission chains of rabies following an incursion, something that could occur in this open border environment, especially considering that 37.5% of dogs were sourced from outside the _desa_ (either purchased, received as a gift, or adopted from the street). The challenges to rabies control include the high turnover of dogs. The age structure indicates young dogs represent the vast majority of the population and are most at risk of not being vaccinated. Abandonment of unwanted dogs is also a risk as these dogs are less likely to be vaccinated. Establishing an estimate of the number of dogs abandoned is difficult as people are unlikely to admit to this practice. The prior ownership status of the currently unowned dogs could not be definitively identified, however it was suspected that many were abandoned dogs. The welfare state of these unowned dogs was often poor; 23% were in a thin or emaciated body condition, 19% had visible skin conditions, and 10% had visible injuries. The poor visible welfare state of unowned dogs suggests their survival is poor hence even though owned dogs may be abandoned relatively frequently, they do not live long, so the population size of unowned dogs remains low.