Abstract Humane dog and cat population management has relied on Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) projects in an attempt to control or reduce free-roaming populations and improve the welfare of dogs and ...cats. It has been recognised that the root cause of dog and cat population and welfare issues is people and their attitudes and behaviours towards dogs and cats – whether this is through lack of responsible ownership leading to loss or abandonment, or programs that focus on single tools such as sterilisation. Failing to recognise the interdependency that exists between individual and community responsibility means that projects that rely solely on the actions of an individual or a small group, and do not involve the wider community, risk limiting their impact and sustainability. Typically, sterilisation projects regularly fail to address this issue. The concept of human behaviour change is beginning to be used in dog population management programs but is still largely unused and untested in cat population management programs. In 2013, a 4-year project in Praia de Faro, Portugal, started to explore how communities respond to a local program using community engagement tools to measure and evaluate changes in attitudes and behaviours towards owned and un-owned dogs and cats. The research question is: ‘does community involvement and participation in a project increase its chances of success in relation to improved welfare for animals?’ Results suggest improved dog and cat welfare, positive changes in attitudes and behaviours of the community, and increased community involvement.
Understanding dynamics of free-roaming dog (FRD) population is critical for planning and implementation of dog population management programs. FRD population size estimation as well as dynamic ...modeling of dog population under different female dog neutering interventions were investigated in order to determine the most appropriate animal birth control approach. We performed population size estimate of dogs using sight-resight surveys by photography in a randomly selected 25 blocks of the city and all the suburbs of greater Kerman area. Main demographic features were characterized and the dog density distribution was mapped. A dynamic model was developed to predict free-roaming dog population variations after 5 and 10 years. Different scenarios based on 10, 30, 50, 60 and 70% female dog sterilization were considered to predict the effects of animal birth control measures. Free roaming dog population was estimated at 6781 dogs (65.3% males) in Kerman and suburbs with several major population hotspots. Analysis of the dog locations within the city showed that the largest proportion of the dogs were observed in the vacant lots (46.2%). Modeling predictions indicated that, in the absence of management, the free-roaming dog population could increase from a baseline of 6781 to 13,665 dogs (2.02 fold increase) in 5 years and to 19,376 dogs in 10 years (2.86 fold increase). Using a population dynamics model, we simulated five neutering coverages to explore the impact of female neutering on free-roaming dog population size. The 5-year projections of the model have shown that 50% annual female dog sterilization significantly reduced free-roaming dog population by 0.44 comparing to the baseline population. Findings of the present study improve our knowledge on the nature and extent of dog population dynamics in Iran. Effective population control and selection of the most appropriate neutering interventions require a comprehensive knowledge of the characteristics and dynamics of FRD population.
Dog population management is conducted in many countries to address the public health risks from roaming dogs and threats to their welfare. To assess its effectiveness, we need to monitor indicators ...from both the human and dog populations that are quick and easy to collect, precise and meaningful to intervention managers, donors and local citizens. We propose that the most appropriate indicators from the roaming dog population are population density and composition, based on counting dogs along standard routes using a standard survey protocol. Smart phone apps are used to navigate and record dogs along standard routes. Density expressed as dogs seen per km predicts the number of dogs residents will encounter as they commute to work or school and is therefore more meaningful than total population size. Composition in terms of gender, age and reproductive activity is measured alongside welfare, in terms of body and skin condition. The implementation of this method in seven locations reveals significant difference in roaming dog density between locations and reduction in density within one location subject to intervention. This method provides a resource efficient and reliable measure of roaming dog density, composition and welfare for the assessment of intervention impact.
Emergency vaccinations and culling failed to contain an outbreak of rabies in Bali, Indonesia, during 2008-2009. Subsequent island-wide mass vaccination (reaching 70% coverage, >200,000 dogs) led to ...substantial declines in rabies incidence and spread. However, the incidence of dog bites remains high, and repeat campaigns are necessary to eliminate rabies in Bali.
One Health addresses complex challenges to promote the health of all species and the environment by integrating relevant sciences at systems level. Its application to zoonotic diseases is ...recommended, but few coherent frameworks exist that combine approaches from multiple disciplines. Rabies requires an interdisciplinary approach for effective and efficient management.
A framework is proposed to assess the value of rabies interventions holistically. The economic assessment compares additional monetary and non-monetary costs and benefits of an intervention taking into account epidemiological, animal welfare, societal impact and cost data. It is complemented by an ethical assessment. The framework is applied to Colombo City, Sri Lanka, where modified dog rabies intervention measures were implemented in 2007. The two options included for analysis were the control measures in place until 2006 ("baseline scenario") and the new comprehensive intervention measures ("intervention") for a four-year duration. Differences in control cost; monetary human health costs after exposure; Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost due to human rabies deaths and the psychological burden following a bite; negative impact on animal welfare; epidemiological indicators; social acceptance of dogs; and ethical considerations were estimated using a mixed method approach including primary and secondary data. Over the four years analysed, the intervention cost US $1.03 million more than the baseline scenario in 2011 prices (adjusted for inflation) and caused a reduction in dog rabies cases; 738 DALYs averted; an increase in acceptability among non-dog owners; a perception of positive changes in society including a decrease in the number of roaming dogs; and a net reduction in the impact on animal welfare from intermediate-high to low-intermediate.
The findings illustrate the multiple outcomes relevant to stakeholders and allow greater understanding of the value of the implemented rabies control measures, thereby providing a solid foundation for informed decision-making and sustainable control.
Dog population management is required in many locations to minimise the risks dog populations may pose to human health and to alleviate animal welfare problems. In many cities in India, Animal Birth ...Control (ABC) projects have been adopted to provide population management. Measuring the impact of such projects requires assessment of dog population size among other relevant indicators.
This paper describes a simple mark-resight survey methodology that can be used with little investment of resources to monitor the number of roaming dogs in areas that are currently subject to ABC, provided the numbers, dates and locations of the dogs released following the intervention are reliably recorded. We illustrate the method by estimating roaming dog numbers in three cities in Rajasthan, India: Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. In each city the dog populations were either currently subject to ABC or had been very recently subject to such an intervention and hence a known number of dogs had been permanently marked with an ear-notch to identify them as having been operated. We conducted street surveys to record the current percentage of dogs in each city that are ear-notched and used an estimate for the annual survival of ear-notched dogs to calculate the current size of each marked population.
Dividing the size of the marked population by the fraction of the dogs that are ear-notched we estimated the number of roaming dogs to be 36,580 in Jaipur, 24,853 in Jodhpur and 2,962 in Jaisalmer.
The mark-resight survey methodology described here is a simple way of providing population estimates for cities with current or recent ABC programmes that include visible marking of dogs. Repeating such surveys on a regular basis will further allow for evaluation of ABC programme impact on population size and reproduction in the remaining unsterilised dog population.
A high-intensity catch, neuter, vaccinate and return (CNVR) intervention was used over 5 years to manage the free-roaming dog population of Greater Bangkok, using nearly 300,000 CNVR operations ...across six provinces. An evaluation was conducted using multiple methods to assess the impact of this intervention, including clinical data, an observational street survey, an online attitude survey and reported cases of dog rabies confirmed with laboratory testing. The evaluation found evidence of a reduction in free-roaming dog density over time (24.7% reduction over 5 years), a reduction in dog rabies cases (average reduction of 5.7% rabies cases per month) and an improvement in dog–human relationships (a 39% increase per year in free-roaming dogs with visible signs of ownership or care and a perception of less trouble with free-roaming dogs in districts benefiting from CNVR). The CNVR intervention appears to have been effective at reducing the current free-roaming dog population and minimizing one future source of free-roaming dogs by limiting breeding of dogs accessible on the streets. However, there is evidence that other sources of free-roaming dogs exist, presumed to be predominately abandoned or lost owned dogs that were previously inaccessible to the CNVR intervention because they were ordinarily confined or living outside the project area. Hence, fully effective dog population management will require further interventions targeting owned dogs in addition to this CNVR effort.
Dog-mediated human rabies can be eliminated through mass dog vaccination. Despite leading authorities in human and animal health uniting to advance effective and humane rabies control, some ...governments resort to lethal methods, which are unethical, often inhumane and ineffective. To end the inhumane culling of dogs in response to rabies, World Animal Protection launched 'Red Collar'; a five-year campaign (2011-2016) that worked with governments to promote the implementation of mass dog vaccination for rabies control. We present the findings from a qualitative evaluation of 'Red Collar', conducted both regionally and with national focus on Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Zanzibar, Tanzania. Through semi-structured interviews and written contributions from stakeholders (
= 54), we compared perceptions of changes with stated campaign goals to capture recommendations for future work. The campaign successfully generated momentum for implementation of mass dog vaccination by targeted governments. Lessons learned were established: Value of a consistent animal welfare 'voice'; the need to explore the motivations behind culling; the need to capacity build; time required for the 'ripple effect' to inspire humane control in other countries; importance of monitoring and evaluation of indicators; time and effort required for exit strategies and prior preparation for a robust response to culling.
Behaviour and urinary cortisol/creatinine ratios (C/C) were monitored in twenty-six dogs, on days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 following their admission to a rehoming kennel. Half had been relinquished from ...homes, and half were either strays or returns to the shelter. Drinking and grooming increased with time, while panting and paw-lifting decreased, but only drinking was linked with C/C; dogs observed drinking on the first day had significantly lower C/C than dogs not observed drinking. Mean molar C/C (40
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) tended to decrease with time in the strays and returns, and to increase in dogs relinquished from homes, although C/C on the first day was highly variable and not distinguishable between these two groups. This implies that these populations differed in their long-term, but possibly not their short-term, responses to kennelling. Dogs with rising C/C were more active on average than those with falling C/C, but the opposite trend was detected when making comparisons within-dog. The relationship between C/C and exercise is therefore complex and warrants further investigation before C/C can be considered as a reliable indicator of welfare in this species.
Dogs are ubiquitous in human society and attempts to manage their populations are common to most countries. Managing dog populations is achieved through a range of interventions to suit the dog ...population dynamics and dog ownership characteristics of the location, with a number of potential impacts or goals in mind. Impact assessment provides the opportunity for interventions to identify areas of inefficiencies for improvement and build evidence of positive change.
This scoping review collates 26 studies that have assessed the impacts of dog population management interventions.
It reports the use of 29 indicators of change under 8 categories of impact and describes variation in the methods used to measure these indicators.
The relatively few published examples of impact assessment in dog population management suggest this field is in its infancy; however this review highlights those notable exceptions. By describing those indicators and methods of measurement that have been reported thus far, and apparent barriers to efficient assessment, this review aims to support and direct future impact assessment.
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