Stray dog population health in Jodhpur, India in the wake of an animal birth control (ABC) program

Scoping review of indicators and methods of measurement used to evaluate the impact of dog population management interventions

“…Improve dog welfareBody condition scoreYesClinical exam of dogs whilst in intervention clinic or during handling for vaccination (control group)Observational; retrospective cross-sectionalNeutering, vaccination and return of roaming dogsIndia (Rajasthan), AsiaPeer-reviewed publication[15]Presence of ticks/fleasYesOpen woundsYesAntibodies to canine infectious diseases (serology)Yes1. Improve dog welfareBody condition scoreYesStreet surveys of roaming dogsQuasi-experimental; Cross-sectionalNeutering, vaccination and return of roaming dogsIndia (Jodhpur), AsiaPeer-reviewed publication[16]Skin conditionYesClinical exam of dogs whilst in intervention clinicOpen woundsNo1. Improve dog welfareDog-dog aggressionNoVideo surveillance of roaming dogsExperimental; prospective cohortCastration of male dogsChile (Puerto Natales), S AmericaPeer-reviewed publication[22]Dog-human aggressionNoInterspecies aggressionNo1.…”

“…Body condition score was found to increase following intervention in all cases where it was used in impact assessment of an intervention [13–16], except in response to a rabies vaccination only intervention where no change was seen [17]. Body condition scales used were either the 9-point Purina scale validated by Laflamme [18] or a simplified 5-point version of this scale.…”

Debate For and Against Euthanasia in the Control of Dog Populations

“…Surgical neutering is by far the most common method of birth control in dogs but it's too expensive to be performed at large scale so in many countries because of it costs it may be restricted or even prohibited. Neutering and release strategies for stray dogs have been recommended similarly as used in the TNR for cats known as Animal Birth control (ABC) program (Totton et al, 2011). The ABC program involve the capture, surgical sterilization and rabies vaccination of stray dogs with the whole idea to replace the sexually intact, unvaccinated stray dog population with a smaller population of infertile healthier dogs in order to reduce the population of dogs in a given area.…”

“…India has one of the highest densities of stray dogs due to a large amount of edible litters on the streets, cultural tolerance of dogs and lack of consistently employed, sustained control programs (Butcher, 1999). As consequence, general health status of stray dogs is bad with thin to emaciate body condition, skin conditions and tick infestation (Totton et al, 2011). One of the critical factors leading to a fast growth of the canine population is the lack of control of birth rates as a result of failure to spay and castrate or to supervise pets.…”

Concentrations of Total Serum Immunoglobulin E, A, G and M in Stray Dogs with Healthy and Dermatological Problems

“…Stray dogs live in dirty environments, eat spoiled food remains in dump, sleep in dirty areas and are highly susceptible to a wide variety of fatal diseases. In a study, low body condition score (70%), and skin problems (69%) were the most common health problems in stray dog population 8 . Therefore, this study was carried out in the stray dogs.…”