Program prevents dog bites " in war and peace

An online coloring book developed in Reno has gone worldwide, teaching children near and far how to behave around dogs so as to not get bit.

Traveling via Web site at www.bowwowow.

com, the coloring book was seen by a veterinarian in war-torn Iraq, says Dr.

Ron Anderson, a veterinarian diagnostician at the U.S.

Department of Agriculture in Reno.

Children in Iraq where animals roam wild amidst the general chaos caused by the U.S.

invasion are getting rabies after being bit by stray dogs, he says.

To teach the kids, the coloring book text is being translated into Arabic.

It has also attracted notice in the Galapagos Islands, where it was translated into Spanish for use by the San Francisco Bay area group,Animal Balance.

The Dog Bite Prevention Task Force program began in Nevada schools in 1998 after State Farm Insurance Companies allowed the Bow Wow, Ow! Web site to include a lesson plan and fun pages to help keep children safe around dogs.

The insurance industry pays out vast amounts to settle dog bite claims, says Anderson.

So State Farm Insurance produced enough educational coloring books for every student in schools throughout Nevada.

School nurses taught the class.When the books ran out, another grant funded a video.

A mix of live action and animation, the eight-minute video was illustrated by Eileen Gay ofWaaahoo Productions and produced by videographer Jon Gay, director of JAG Broadcast Video of Reno.

The video is used in conjunction with the online lesson plans and coloring book.

It was bought by schools in 24 states and Canada, says Anderson, as well as by veterinarians and the Humane Society.

Publishing a coloring book is expensive, but when posted on a Web site, people can print out the 15 pages for instant use.