Free-roaming dog control among OIE-member countries.

Abstract

A questionnaire was distributed to the state veterinary services of all 172 OIE countries to collect data on the different national approaches to dog population control. We used all 81 completed questionnaires with ≥80% of the question answered to identify the different national approaches to the issue. The intensity of the free-roaming dog (FRD) problem was negatively correlated with the value of the UN's human development index recognized for each country. Dog bites/attacks and rabies were the main problems associated with FRDs, and these problems were reported disproportionately by less-developed countries. Dog-control programs (DCP) were more widely used among the more-developed countries. In less-developed countries, DCPs (when they existed at all) tended to employ killing methods (including poisoned baits), that are not recommended on animal-welfare grounds.