Considerations of Ethical Aspects of Control Strategies of Unowned Free-Roaming Dog Populations and the No-Kill Policy in Italy

Natoli, Eugenia; Cariola, Giuseppe; Dall’Oglio, G.; Valsecchi, Paola

doi:10.1163/25889567-12340014

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Permissive attitudes regarding free-roaming dogs in some countries, coupled with the perceived efficacy of sterilization as a dog management tool ( 8 ) could result in large number of free-roaming dogs. In turn, a large population of free-roaming dogs may lead to liability problems and risks to humans from interactions with dogs ( 9 ). Dog bites to humans are a risk wherever there are free-roaming dogs ( 10 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Owned dog population size and ownership patterns in Costa Rica

Flockhart¹,

Rowan²,

Boone³

2022

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are one of the most common pets around the world but ownership patterns and human-dog interactions have been changing, particularly in developing nations. We conducted household surveys in Costa Rica to characterize dog ownership, the owned dog population, where dogs were confined at night and in the morning, and behaviors regarding selected dog care issues. We also compared these results to similar questionnaires used in Costa Rica over the past 20 years. We found 76% of households in Costa Rica owned at least one dog and on average there were about 1.4 dogs owned per household. These dog ownership rates are higher than previous estimates. The probability of owning a dog was highest on farms and lowest in single family dwellings without a yard, higher among respondents that owned their homes and decreasing with increasing human population density The total number of owned dogs in Costa Rica was estimated to be 2,222,032 (95% confidence intervals: 1,981,497–2,503,751). The sterilization rate for homed dogs in 2020 was approximately 62% (females: 67%, males: 61%) which is higher than the 18% of owned dogs that were sterilized in a 2003 survey. Overall, only 1.2% (95% CI: 0.3–2.5%) of owned dogs slept on the street with a slightly higher proportion on the street at 8 am. The number of owned dogs roaming the streets at night nation-wide was estimated to be 27,208 (95% CI: 7,557–56,619) compared to 43,142 (95% CI: 20,118–73,618) on the street at 8 am. The number of unowned free-roaming dogs in Costa Rica has never been estimated but we can generate some idea of the size of the unowned dog population by determining the proportion of free-roaming dogs on the street wearing collars. There was a negative relationship between human population density and owned dogs being on the street meaning fewer dogs roam the streets in highly populated areas compared to less populated areas. Overall, we identify trends against which future progress can be measured and provide information that are critical in designing effective humane dog management programs in Costa Rica in the future.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Owned dog population size and ownership patterns in Costa Rica

Flockhart¹,

Rowan²,

Boone³

2022

Front. Vet. Sci.

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“…Dog shelters are common in westernized societies, especially in Italy where a “no-kill” policy has been enforced by law since 1991 (some crucial points of Italian Law 281/1991 are: (1) unowned free-roaming dogs cannot be euthanized unless they are incurable or proven to be dangerous; (2) unowned free-roaming dogs must be captured and taken to a dog shelter; (3) all municipalities must have a dog shelter; (4) all dogs in the shelters must be registered and neutered; (5) all owned dogs have to be registered; (6) shelter dogs can be adopted; and (7) shelter dogs cannot be used as experimental animals in scientific research.). In our country, shelters provide a valuable service by hosting unowned free-roaming dogs (unowned free-roaming dogs includes all dogs without an owner who wander, exploit human waste-food resources, or live on hunted prey) [ 1 ], dogs brought in by their owners for various reasons (e.g., aggressive behavior towards people and other animals, disobedience, anxiety disorders and/or a combination of these reasons; Natoli unpublished, according to what has been found in other countries [ 2 , 3 ]), and dogs seized by the Public Veterinary Service because of maltreatment by former owners. The relevant Italian law (Law 189/2004) provides for the seizure of the dog by the Local Health Unit responsible for that territory, for cases in which dogs are confined to inadequate spaces, denied appropriate access to food or water, denied physical exercise or veterinary care, exposed to torture leading to injury, or exposed to working conditions or experiences that result in fatigue or injury or do not meet the animals’ ethological needs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Italy, the adoption of dogs from shelters, in particular from public ones, is widespread, especially in large cities. In the Muratella municipal dog shelter in Rome, for example, which housed from 400 to 500 dogs in the last three years, the majority of dogs are adopted within one year of their arrival at the shelter [ 1 ]. There is a low percentage of relinquishments from new owners: from 2017 to 2019, 5.62% of adopted dogs came back to the Muratella shelter (dog shelter database, personal communication).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Different Personalities Affect the Reaction to Adoption of Dogs Adopted from a Shelter

Corsetti

Pimpolari²,

Natoli

2021

Animals

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Dog shelters provide a valuable service by housing homeless dogs and seeking subsequent adoption for these dogs. Few studies have aimed to monitor the behavior of adopted dogs when adoption is successful. The aim of this study was to detect what behavioral modifications, based on their personality, occurred in dogs after their adoption. The personality of 34 healthy dogs was evaluated in the pre-adoption phase by means of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of their behavioral patterns. In the post-adoption phase, we analyzed the behavior of the same dogs, completing a questionnaire with their owners. Pre- and post-adoption data were standardized and a PCA was run on the differences between these variables. A k-means cluster analysis was run on the six components, obtaining three groups of dogs: for groups one and two, changes in behavior after adoption seemed to be influenced by dog personality: bolder dogs (1st group) became more active, excitable and playful, showed increased aggressive behavior towards humans, and decreased anxious and submissive behavior towards dogs and humans; shyer dogs (2nd group) went in the opposite direction, displaying increased aggressive behavior. For the 3rd group, personality was not predictive of behavior changes. All the dog adoptions in this study were successful.

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“…A similar decline can also be seen in shelter dog populations in Europe. However, as many European countries have strict mandates and legislation in place to help reduce shelter dog populations [3][4][5], such enforcement may be the explanation for euthanasia decline. The United States does not currently have any national legislation regarding managing dogs without owners, as such legislation is optionally mandated by individual states.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic Characteristics Associated with Shelter Dog Adoption in the United States

Cain

Woodruff

Smith

2020

Animals

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The objective of this study was to identify phenotypic characteristics of dogs predictive of adoption after being received into a shelter. Individual dog records for 2017 were requested from shelters in five states that received municipal funding and utilized electronic record keeping methods. Records from 17 shelters were merged into a dataset of 19,514 potentially adoptable dogs. A simple random sample of 4500 dogs was used for modelling. Variables describing coat length, estimated adult size, and skull type were imputed from breed phenotype. A Cox proportional hazard model with a random effect of shelter was developed for the outcome of adoption using manual forward variable selection. Significance for model inclusion was set at alpha = 0.05. Dogs from shelters in the North were more likely to be adopted than dogs from shelters in the South (hazard ratio (HR) = 3.13, 95% C.I. 1.27–7.67), as were dogs from Western shelters versus those from Southern shelters (HR = 3.81, 95% C.I. 1.43–10.14). The effect of estimated adult size, skull type, and age group on adoption were each modified by time in the shelter (p < 0.001). The results of this study indicate that what dogs look like is predictive of their hazard for adoption from shelters, but the effect of some characteristics on hazard for adoption depend on time in the shelter. Further, this study demonstrates that adopters prefer a certain phenotype of shelter dog including those that are puppies, small sized and not brachycephalic, when accounting for time in the sheltering environment.

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Considerations of Ethical Aspects of Control Strategies of Unowned Free-Roaming Dog Populations and the No-Kill Policy in Italy

Cited by 6 publications

References 3 publications

Owned dog population size and ownership patterns in Costa Rica

Owned dog population size and ownership patterns in Costa Rica

How Different Personalities Affect the Reaction to Adoption of Dogs Adopted from a Shelter

Phenotypic Characteristics Associated with Shelter Dog Adoption in the United States

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