1.10 Dogs on the Street: Where Do You Start? - Joy Lee

World Society for the Protection of Animals

DOGS ON THE STREET:WHERE DO YOU START?

An ICAM Methodology Workshop

Joy [email protected]


International Companion Animal Management (ICAM) Coalition


International Companion Animal Management (ICAM) Coalition

• Guidance through a process• With local stakeholders• To assess the local situation

and needs• To determine the most effective

solution for managing the local dog population

• Sustainably (long-term)• In a humane manner.


Where are the dogs coming from? - the make-up of the roaming dog population - the source(s) of the roaming dogs

Owned roaming Abandoned Lost ‘community dog’ ‘stray’ born on street


Myth: Most dogs on the street are unowned.

Fact: Most roaming dogs have some form of ‘ownership’ (human carer).


In our experience:

• Colombo, Sri Lanka – 50% of roaming dogs are owned (15,000 owned – 3,500 roaming)

• Bali – 95-97% owned dogs roam (data from 2 villages, subject of a PhD study)

• Zanzibar, Tanzania – majority of owned dogs (18,800) roam around owner’s premises

• Puntarenas province , Costa Rica – 28% of owned dogs (13,000) allowed to roam

• Turkey – majority owned• Crete, Greece – 50% of roaming dogs are owned• Oradea, Romania – majority of roaming dogs are owned• Yerevan, Armenia – 15% of owned dogs allowed to roam


What happens to the dogs on the street?


Re-homed Shelters Kill/ Euthanaisa

Death (injury, disease) Killed (poison, shooting)

Caught

CNR


What do we need to know?


Re-homed Shelters Kill/ Euthanaisa

Death (injury, disease) Killed (poison, shooting)

Caught

CNR

Numbers depend on:• Food• Water• Shelter• Human Tolerance


What do we need to know (basics):• Number of dogs on the street• Dynamics of the ‘stray’ population (owned vs stray,

welfare, sex, age, females lactating/pregnant, puppies)• Resource access: what keeps the dogs alive and

reproducing• Size of owned dog population

• Public attitudes toward strays? Toward their own dogs?• Public awareness of connection between stray and

owned (‘stray’ might be owned roaming, but creating puppies)

• Public awareness and attitudes toward principles of responsible pet ownership (vaccination, sterilisation, controlled reproduction)

• What are people’s concerns? Rabies? Bites? Barking?• Do people want dogs on the street? vs. Do people want

dogs killed?• Will people tolerate community dogs if safe/healthy, not

aggressive and sterilised?

• Why do people own dogs?• How do they treat their owned dogs? Training?• Do people let their dogs roam? Abandon?• What do they do with unwanted puppies when their dog

gets pregnant?• What are most common issues that people cannot cope

with (causing abandonment)? Disease, behaviour, money, etc.

• Dogs

• Public Attitude (What people think, what people want)

• Human Behaviour (What people do)


Tools• Dog population surveys

•Number

•Male, female, puppy, lactating

•Collars

•On leash (with owner)

•Community engagement•Talking to people to find out their opinions (attitudes), behaviour

• Who owns a dog? Who owns that dog on the street?

•Questionnaires

•Focus groups


Help is available!• Humane Dog Population Management

Guidance (ICAM Coalition, 2008)

• For governments and NGOs involved in dog population management

• How to assess population management needs and determine the most effective and resource-efficient approach

• Available in several languages from:

www.icam-coalition.org

• More technical guidance also available on website


Thank you!

http://www.prikol.ru/2009/07/28/devochka-i-sobaka-4-foto/

1.10 Dogs on the Street: Where Do You Start? - Joy Lee

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