Dog and cat management through sterilization: Implications for population dynamics and veterinary public policies

Dias, Ricardo Augusto; Baquero, Oswaldo Santos; Guilloux, Aline Gil Alves; Moretti, Caio Figueiredo; Lucca, Tosca de; Rodrigues, Ricardo Conde Alves; Castagna, C.; Presotto, Douglas; Kronitzky, Yury Cezar; Grisi-Filho, José Henrique Hildebrand; Ferreira, Fernando; Amaku, Marcos

doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2015.10.004

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Studies of sterilization programs in different settings have suggested that their full impact on reducing population size would not be achieved for over 30 years [for a shelter based spay/neuter campaign in the US (64)], up to 10 years [for sterilization of free-roaming dogs in Brazil (54)] and between 13 and 18 years [for sterilization of free-roaming dogs in India (34)]. Therefore, sterilization may be useful in reducing dog populations over a relatively long time period, but its impact will also need to be considered within the scope and timeframe of a rabies control program.…”

Section: What Are the Benefits And Drawbacks Of Humane Dpm Tools?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In practice, however, the number of dogs admitted to shelters usually far outpaces the community’s capacity to rehome them (54). Shelters are expensive and time consuming to run, and once facilities are overwhelmed with animals, animal welfare standards can fall dramatically (3).…”

Section: What Are the Benefits And Drawbacks Of Humane Dpm Tools?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, for practical, economic, and welfare reasons, in most rabies-endemic settings alternatives to shelters must be explored fully prior to any commitment to build one (3, 54). …”

Section: What Are the Benefits And Drawbacks Of Humane Dpm Tools?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Dog Population Management in Rabies Elimination—A Review of Current Approaches and Future Opportunities

et al. 2017

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Free-roaming dogs and rabies transmission are integrally linked across many low-income countries, and large unmanaged dog populations can be daunting to rabies control program planners. Dog population management (DPM) is a multifaceted concept that aims to improve the health and well-being of free-roaming dogs, reduce problems they may cause, and may also aim to reduce dog population size. In theory, DPM can facilitate more effective rabies control. Community engagement focused on promoting responsible dog ownership and better veterinary care could improve the health of individual animals and dog vaccination coverage, thus reducing rabies transmission. Humane DPM tools, such as sterilization, could theoretically reduce dog population turnover and size, allowing rabies vaccination coverage to be maintained more easily. However, it is important to understand local dog populations and community attitudes toward them in order to determine whether and how DPM might contribute to rabies control and which DPM tools would be most successful. In practice, there is very limited evidence of DPM tools achieving reductions in the size or turnover of dog populations in canine rabies-endemic areas. Different DPM tools are frequently used together and combined with rabies vaccinations, but full impact assessments of DPM programs are not usually available, and therefore, evaluation of tools is difficult. Surgical sterilization is the most frequently documented tool and has successfully reduced dog population size and turnover in a few low-income settings. However, DPM programs are mostly conducted in urban settings and are usually not government funded, raising concerns about their applicability in rural settings and sustainability over time. Technical demands, costs, and the time necessary to achieve population-level impacts are major barriers. Given their potential value, we urgently need more evidence of the effectiveness of DPM tools in the context of canine rabies control. Cheaper, less labor-intensive tools for dog sterilization will be extremely valuable in realizing the potential benefits of reduced population turnover and size. No one DPM tool will fit all situations, but if DPM objectives are achieved dog populations may be stabilized or even reduced, facilitating higher dog vaccination coverages that will benefit rabies elimination efforts.

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Section: What Are the Benefits And Drawbacks Of Humane Dpm Tools?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Are the Benefits And Drawbacks Of Humane Dpm Tools?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Dog Population Management in Rabies Elimination—A Review of Current Approaches and Future Opportunities

et al. 2017

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“…They found that undertaking SS with 50% more queens between the ages of 4 months and 5 years of age on top of the current spay rate to be the most cost-effective method, increasing the number of sterilisations by 2.8% from 36,345 spays to 37,359 spays in a population of 55,000 female cats. Similarly, Dias, et al [30] used data from a local sterilisation campaign to create their simulation model. A household survey was conducted before and after a campaign where free SS was offered, to ascertain the proportion of sterilised cats, revealing a 0.68% increase from 21.89% to 22.57% sterilised after campaign.…”

Section: Simulations Using Field Work Data As Input Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Strategies for Population Management of Domestic Cats (Felis catus): A Systematic Review to Inform Best Practice Management for Remote Indigenous Communities in Australia

Kennedy

Cumming²,

Brown

2020

Animals

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Pet domestic cat (Felis catus) populations are increasing all around the world, resulting in an increase in contact with humans and wildlife, potentially spreading zoonotic diseases and predating on wildlife. With the recently identified rise in cat populations in remote Indigenous communities in Australia, culturally appropriate cat population management strategies are required. A systematic review process was conducted to review the current global cat population management practices that are suitable for owned, free-roaming cat populations in these communities. Eight articles on in-situ field cat populations and five studies simulating computer modelled cat populations reported results of 66 population management interventions. Surgical Sterilisation (SS) was used in all socialised owned cat articles. The trap–neuter–release (TNR) method was used most frequently on unsocialised cats and gained the best results when the trap–remove (TR) method was used concurrently to adopt out unwanted social cats and euthanise ill or injured cats. The results of this review suggest that long-term TNR/SS programs supplemented with TR provide the current most ethically sound best practice, humane method of managing cat populations in remote Australian Indigenous communities. It is also recognised that no one plan will fit all, and that further research on the micro-level techniques used to deploy both TNR and TR needs to occur, and that culturally appropriate community consultation during all processes is vital in achieving a sustainable management program.

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“…Thus, reliably informing the relative amount 305 of dog immigration into a region versus birth, plus the proportion of immigrant dogs already 306 harbouring L. infantum parasites, is integral to providing reliable infection prevalence estimates. 307 Studies of domestic dog migration are few, but in most dog populations losses and replacements 308 appear relatively stable with estimates from Brazil of the percentage of new dogs being immi-309 grants ranging from 37% to 50%, with up to 15% of immigrant dogs being Leishmania seropos-310 itive on arrival [43][44][45]. Given the heterogeneities in sand fly abundance and infection [42], even 311 in highly endemic regions such as Marajó, migration of infected dogs between villages can have 312 a significant impact on transmission as demonstrated here.…”

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confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal modelling ofLeishmania infantuminfection among domestic dogs: a simulation study and sensitivity analysis applied to rural Brazil

Buckingham-Jeffery

Hill

Datta

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Background: The parasite Leishmania infantum causes zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a potentially fatal vector-borne disease of canids and humans. Zoonotic VL poses a significant risk to public health, with regions of Latin America being particularly afflicted by the disease.Leishmania infantum parasites are transmitted between hosts during blood feeding by infected female phlebotomine sand flies. With a principal reservoir host of L. infantum being domestic dogs, limiting prevalence in this reservoir may result in a reduced risk of infection for the human population. To this end, a primary focus of research efforts has been to understand disease transmission dynamics among dogs. One way this can be achieved is through the use of mathematical models. Methods:We have developed a stochastic, spatial, individual-based mechanistic model of L. infantum transmission in domestic dogs. The model framework was applied to a rural Brazilian village setting with parameter values informed by fieldwork and laboratory data. To ensure household and sand fly populations were realistic, we statistically fit distributions for these entities to existing survey data. To identify the model parameters of highest importance, we performed a stochastic parameter sensitivity analysis of the prevalence of infection among dogs to the model parameters. Results:We computed parametric distributions for the number of humans and animals per household and a non-parametric temporal profile for sand fly abundance. The stochastic parameter sensitivity analysis determined prevalence of L. infantum infection in dogs to be most strongly affected by the sand fly associated parameters and the proportion of immigrant dogs already infected with L. infantum parasites.Conclusions: Establishing the model parameters with the highest sensitivity of average L. infantum infection prevalence in dogs to their variation helps motivate future data collection efforts focusing on these elements. Moreover, the proposed mechanistic modelling framework provides a foundation that can be expanded to explore spatial patterns of zoonotic VL in humans and to assess spatially targeted interventions.

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Dog and cat management through sterilization: Implications for population dynamics and veterinary public policies

Cited by 25 publications

References 10 publications

The Role of Dog Population Management in Rabies Elimination—A Review of Current Approaches and Future Opportunities

The Role of Dog Population Management in Rabies Elimination—A Review of Current Approaches and Future Opportunities

Global Strategies for Population Management of Domestic Cats (Felis catus): A Systematic Review to Inform Best Practice Management for Remote Indigenous Communities in Australia

Spatio-temporal modelling ofLeishmania infantuminfection among domestic dogs: a simulation study and sensitivity analysis applied to rural Brazil

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