Federal authorities are set to close Canada’s borders Wednesday to commercial dogs, including ones being put up for sale or adoption, from more than 100 countries deemed to be at high risk for canine rabies.

The move has been met with fierce opposition from some animal rescuers and advocates, but the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association says it’s necessary to protect people and dogs from a deadly disease.

In June, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced that commercial dogs – dogs intended for resale, adoption, fostering, breeding, exhibition and research – at high risk for rabies will be banned from entering Canada starting September 28, regardless of when import permits were issued.

CFIA says Canada currently has no active cases of dog rabies, which is caused by a different variant of the virus than the one that circulates in wildlife such as raccoons and foxes.

The agency says that while rabies is nearly 100 percent preventable with proper vaccination, the disease is more than 99 percent fatal for humans and dogs once they start to show symptoms.

Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice Canada, says the agency should have opted for less stringent measures, such as antibody testing to verify vaccination, before imposing an all-out ban.

But Louis Kwantes, past president of Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, says he thinks the policy is warranted given the risks canine rabies poses to Canada’s human and dog populations.

The CFIA says dog rabies kills 59,000 people every year in the countries affected by the ban, including Afghanistan, Ukraine and mainland China.

Full list of countries included in dog ban HERE.