Sex bias in utero alters ovarian reserve but not uterine capacity in female offspring†.

Environmental stressors to which a fetus is exposed affect a range of physiological functions in postnatal offspring. We aimed to determine the in utero effect of steroid hormones on the reproductive potential of female offspring using a porcine model. Reproductive tracts of pigs from female-biased (>65% female, n = 15), non-biased (45-54.9% female, n = 15), and male-biased litters (<35% females, n = 9) were collected at slaughter (95-115 kg). Ovaries and uterine horns were processed for H&E or immunohistochemistry. Variability of data within groups was analyzed with a Levene's test, while data were analyzed using mixed linear models in R. In the ovarian reserve, there was a significant birth weight by sex ratio interaction (P = 0.015), with low birth weight pigs from male-biased litters having higher numbers of primordial follicles with opposite trends seen in pigs from female-biased litters. Sex bias held no effect on endometrial gland development. A lower birth weight decreased the proportion of glands found in the endometrium (P = 0.045) and was more variable in both male-biased and female-biased litters (P = 0.026). The variability of primordial follicles from male-biased litters was greater than non- and female-biased litters (P = 0.014). Similarly, endometrial stromal nuclei had a greater range in male- and female-biased litters than non-biased litters (P = 0.028). A crucial finding was the greater variability in primordial follicles in the ovaries from females derived from male-biased litters and stromal cell count in the endometrium of females from male- and female-biased litters. This could be inflating the variability of reproductive success seen in females from male-biased litters.

A Placebo-Controlled Randomized Trial of Vigabatrin in the Management of Acute Alcohol Withdrawal.

OBJECTIVE: To undertake a double blinded randomised placebo-controlled trial to assess the efficacy of vigabatrin, a GABA-transaminase inhibitor, as a benzodiazepine sparing agent in the management of acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome in a residential setting. METHODS: We enrolled 120 patients with alcohol use disorder who were randomly assigned to either treatment with vigabatrin (2g/day for 4 days) or placebo. The primary outcome was defined as the number of participants in each treatment arm needing diazepam for withdrawal management. A secondary outcome prespecified was the total dose of diazepam received by participants in each treatment arm. Participants were recruited on admission to a residential withdrawal unit at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne from December 2014 to April 2019. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the number of participants requiring benzodiazepines during their residential withdrawal stay with 44 participants (78.6%) in placebo arm requiring at least one dose of diazepam compared to 38 (66.7%) in vigabatrin arm (p = .156). An 18.1% difference was observed between the proportion of participants who received a total dose of >100mg of diazepam during their residential withdrawal stay in placebo arm (32.1%), compared to vigabatrin arm (14.0%, p = .022). There were higher rates of reported adverse events in placebo arm with nine (15.0%) participants reporting adverse events compared with two (3.3%) participants in vigabatrin arm (p = .027). CONCLUSION: Vigabatrin significantly reduced the number of participants requiring >100mg diazepam over the course of their alcohol withdrawal and was associated with a reduction in adverse effects when compared to placebo.

General Practitioner Educators on Clinical Debrief: A Qualitative Investigation into the Experience of Teaching Third-Year Medical Students to Care.

Phenomenon: There is a paucity of research reporting the experiences of general practitioner clinical educators. Providing education for students could lead to better clinical skills and greater job satisfaction for the educator. However, it could also result in increased stress and mental fatigue, adding to what is an already pressured situation in the current primary care climate. Clinical Debrief is a model of case-based learning with integrated supervision developed to prepare medical students for clinical practice. This study aimed to explore the experiences of general practitioners who facilitate Clinical Debrief. Approach: Eight general practitioner educators with experience of facilitating Clinical Debrief participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Results were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, and four main themes were developed. Findings: Themes included: Personal enrichment: psychological "respite" and wellbeing; Professional enrichment: Clinical Debrief as a "two-way" door; Becoming a facilitator: a journey; and, Relationships in teaching: blurred boundaries and multiple roles. Insights: Being a Clinical Debrief facilitator had a transformative impact on the personal and professional lives of the GPs who participated in this study. The implications of these findings for individual GPs, their patients, and the wider healthcare system, are discussed.

Provincial Door-to-Needle Improvement Initiative Results in Improved Patient Outcomes Across an Entire Population.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Improving door-to-needle times (DNTs) for thrombolysis of acute ischemic stroke patients improves outcomes, but participation in DNT improvement initiatives has been mostly limited to larger, academic medical centers with an existing interest in stroke quality improvement. It is not known whether quality improvement initiatives can improve DNT at a population level, including smaller community hospitals. This study aims to determine the effect of a provincial improvement collaborative intervention on improvement of DNT and patient outcomes. METHODS: A pre post cohort study was conducted over 10 years in the Canadian province of Alberta with 17 designated stroke centers. All ischemic stroke patients who received thrombolysis in the Canadian province of Alberta were included in the study. The quality improvement intervention was an improvement collaborative that involved creation of interdisciplinary teams from each stroke center, participation in 3 workshops and closing celebration, site visits, webinars, and data audit and feedback. RESULTS: Two thousand four hundred eighty-eight ischemic stroke patients received thrombolysis in the pre- and postintervention periods (630 in the post period). The mean age was 71 years (SD, 14.6 years), and 46% were women. DNTs were reduced from a median of 70.0 minutes (interquartile range, 51-93) to 39.0 minutes (interquartile range, 27-58) for patients treated per guideline (P<0.0001). The percentage of patients discharged home from acute care increased from 45.6% to 59.5% (P<0.0001); the median 90-day home time increased from 43.3 days (interquartile range, 27.3-55.8) to 53.6 days (interquartile range, 36.8-64.6) (P=0.0015); and the in-hospital mortality decreased from 14.5% to 10.5% (P=0.0990). CONCLUSIONS: The improvement collaborative was likely the key contributing factor in reducing DNTs and improving outcomes for ischemic stroke patients across Alberta.

Health-related welfare prioritisation of canine disorders using electronic health records in primary care practice in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based comparison of the disorder-specific welfare burdens of major canine conditions could better inform targeting of stakeholder resources, to maximise improvement of health-related welfare in UK dogs. Population-level disease related welfare impact offers a quantitative, welfare-centred framework for objective disorder prioritisation, but practical applications have been limited to date due to sparse reliable evidence on disorder-specific prevalence, severity and duration across the canine disease spectrum. The VetCompass™ Programme collects de-identified electronic health record data from dogs attending primary-care clinics UK-wide, and is well placed to fill these information gaps. RESULTS: The eight common, breed-related conditions assessed were anal sac disorder, conjunctivitis, dental disease, dermatitis, overweight/obese, lipoma, osteoarthritis and otitis externa. Annual period prevalence estimates (based on confirming 250 cases from total potential cases identified from denominator population of 455, 557 dogs) were highest for dental disorder (9.6%), overweight/obese (5.7%) and anal sac disorder (4.5%). Dental disorder (76% of study year), osteoarthritis (82%), and overweight/obese (70%) had highest annual duration scores. Osteoarthritis (scoring 13/21), otitis externa (11/21) and dermatitis demonstrated (10/21) highest overall severity scores. Dental disorder (2.47/3.00 summative score), osteoarthritis (2.24/3.00) and overweight/obese (1.67/3.00) had highest VetCompass Welfare Impact scores overall. DISCUSSION: Of the eight common, breed-related disorders assessed, dental disorder, osteoarthritis and overweight/obese demonstrated particular welfare impact, based on combinations of high prevalence, duration and severity. Future work could extend this methodology to cover a wider range of disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Dental disorders, osteoarthritis and overweight/obese have emerged as priority areas for health-related welfare improvement in the UK dog population. This study demonstrated applicability of a standardised methodology to assess the relative health-related welfare impact across a range of canine disorders using VetCompass clinical data.

Automatic Individual Pig Detection and Tracking in Pig Farms.

Individual pig detection and tracking is an important requirement in many video-based pig monitoring applications. However, it still remains a challenging task in complex scenes, due to problems of light fluctuation, similar appearances of pigs, shape deformations, and occlusions. In order to tackle these problems, we propose a robust on-line multiple pig detection and tracking method which does not require manual marking or physical identification of the pigs and works under both daylight and infrared (nighttime) light conditions. Our method couples a CNN-based detector and a correlation filter-based tracker via a novel hierarchical data association algorithm. In our method, the detector gains the best accuracy/speed trade-off by using the features derived from multiple layers at different scales in a one-stage prediction network. We define a tag-box for each pig as the tracking target, from which features with a more local scope are extracted for learning, and the multiple object tracking is conducted in a key-points tracking manner using learned correlation filters. Under challenging conditions, the tracking failures are modelled based on the relations between responses of the detector and tracker, and the data association algorithm allows the detection hypotheses to be refined; meanwhile the drifted tracks can be corrected by probing the tracking failures followed by the re-initialization of tracking. As a result, the optimal tracklets can sequentially grow with on-line refined detections, and tracking fragments are correctly integrated into respective tracks while keeping the original identifications. Experiments with a dataset captured from a commercial farm show that our method can robustly detect and track multiple pigs under challenging conditions. The promising performance of the proposed method also demonstrates the feasibility of long-term individual pig tracking in a complex environment and thus promises commercial potential.

Detection of a novel gammaherpesvirus (genus Rhadinovirus) in wild muntjac deer in Northern Ireland.

This study represents the initial part of an investigation into the potential for non-native, wild, free-living muntjac deer (Muntiacus reevesi) to carry viruses that could be a threat to livestock. A degenerate PCR assay was used to screen a range of tissues from muntjac deer culled in Northern Ireland for the presence of herpesviral nucleic acids. This was followed by sequencing of PCR amplicons and phylogenetic analysis. We report the detection of a novel gammaherpesvirus most closely related to a type 2 ruminant rhadinovirus from mule deer. It remains to be determined if this new virus is pathogenic to deer or presents a risk to food security through the susceptibility of domestic livestock.

Mood and personality interact to determine cognitive biases in pigs.

Cognitive bias has become a popular way to access non-human animal mood, though inconsistent results have been found. In humans, mood and personality interact to determine cognitive bias, but to date, this has not been investigated in non-human animals. Here, we demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, in a non-human animal, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus), that mood and personality interact, impacting on judgement. Pigs with a more proactive personality were more likely to respond optimistically to unrewarded ambiguous probes (spatially positioned between locations that were previously rewarded and unrewarded) independent of their housing (or enrichment) conditions. However, optimism/pessimism of reactive pigs in this task was affected by their housing conditions, which are likely to have influenced their mood state. Reactive pigs in the less enriched environment were more pessimistic and those in the more enriched environment, more optimistic. These results suggest that judgement in non-human animals is similar to humans, incorporating aspects of stable personality traits and more transient mood states.

National action plans on antimicrobial resistance in Latin America: an analysis via a governance framework.

In 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted a global action plan (GAP) on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Member states were encouraged to develop their own national action plans (NAPs) in alignment with the GAP. To-date, in systematic assessments of NAPs, the Latin American specific context has not been previously analysed. Here we examined 11 Latin American NAPs published between 2015 and 2021 using content analysis. We focused on two approaches: (1) alignment between the strategic objectives and actions defined in the GAP, and those outlined in the NAPs via a content indicator; and (2) assessment of the NAPs via a governance framework covering 'policy design', 'implementation tools' and 'monitoring and evaluation' areas. We observed a high alignment with the strategic objectives of the GAP; however, the opposite was observed for the corresponding actions. Our results showed that the governance aspects contained within coordination and participation domains were addressed by every Latin American NAP, whereas monitoring and assessment areas, as well as incorporating the environment, would need more attention in subsequent NAPs. Given that AMR is a global health threat and collective efforts across regions are necessary to combat it, our findings can benefit member states by highlighting how to strengthen the AMR strategies in Latin America, while also supporting global policy formulation.

The dual orexin receptor antagonist suvorexant in alcohol use disorder and comorbid insomnia: A case report.

Key Clinical Message: This case suggests using dual orexin receptor antagonists to treat alcohol use disorder and comorbid sleep disorders may be effective, commencing treatment in withdrawal and continuing it to prevent relapse. Abstract: Effective medications for the treatment of alcohol use disorder are limited. This is partially due to the heterogenous nature of the symptomatology associated with alcohol use disorder and the abundance of presenting comorbidities. One common, and often overlooked, symptom that occurs during withdrawal of alcohol use is sleep disruption. Here, we report a case study of a participant with comorbid alcohol use disorder and insomnia. This participant was treated with a dual orexin receptor antagonist, suvorexant (Belsomra®), currently approved to treat insomnia. We demonstrate improvements in alcohol cravings, physical and psychological health, and sleep outcomes with treatment. These data support abundant preclinical and emerging clinical data in this space. The findings from this case report highlight the potential for suvorexant to treat comorbid alcohol use disorder and insomnia with fully powered, randomized controlled trials moving forward.

Transmission potential of Rift Valley fever virus over the course of the 2010 epidemic in South Africa.

A Rift Valley fever (RVF) epidemic affecting animals on domestic livestock farms was reported in South Africa during January-August 2010. The first cases occurred after heavy rainfall, and the virus subsequently spread countrywide. To determine the possible effect of environmental conditions and vaccination on RVF virus transmissibility, we estimated the effective reproduction number (Re) for the virus over the course of the epidemic by extending the Wallinga and Teunis algorithm with spatial information. Re reached its highest value in mid-February and fell below unity around mid-March, when vaccination coverage was 7.5%-45.7% and vector-suitable environmental conditions were maintained. The epidemic fade-out likely resulted first from the immunization of animals following natural infection or vaccination. The decline in vector-suitable environmental conditions from April onwards and further vaccination helped maintain Re below unity. Increased availability of vaccine use data would enable evaluation of the effect of RVF vaccination campaigns.

Inhibition of the asthmatic allergen challenge response by the CRTH2 antagonist OC000459.

CRTH2 (chemoattractant receptor expressed on T-helper (Th) type 2 cells) is a G-protein-coupled receptor expressed by Th2 lymphocytes and eosinophils that mediates prostaglandin (PG)D(2)-driven chemotaxis. We studied the efficacy of the oral CRTH2 antagonist OC000459 in steroid-naïve asthmatic patients. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover study of 16 days' treatment with OC000459 (200 mg twice daily) on the late (LAR) and early (EAR) asthmatic responses to bronchial allergen challenge was conducted, with 16 subjects completing the study. There was a 25.4% (95% CI 5.1-45.6%) reduction in the LAR area under the curve (AUC) for change in forced expiratory volume in 1 s with OC000459 compared with placebo (p=0.018) but no effect on the EAR. Sputum eosinophil counts at 1 day post-allergen challenge were lower after OC000459 treatment (p=0.002). PGD(2)-induced blood eosinophil shape change ex vivo was assessed at day 7 (n=7). The AUC of eosinophil shift for OC000459 was lower than placebo; the mean difference was -33.6% (95% CI -66.8- -0.4%; p=0.048). OC000459 treatment inhibited LAR and post-allergen increase in sputum eosinophils. This CRTH2 antagonist appears to inhibit allergic inflammation in asthma.

A multi-center international study on the spinal cord independence measure, version IV: Rasch psychometric validation.

CONTEXT: The Spinal Cord Independence Measure is a comprehensive functional rating scale for individuals with spinal cord lesion (SCL). OBJECTIVE: To validate the scores of the three subscales of SCIM IV, the fourth version of SCIM, using advanced statistical methods. STUDY DESIGN: Multi-center cohort study. SETTING: Nineteen SCL units in 11 countries. METHODS: SCIM developers created SCIM IV following comments by experts, included more accurate definitions of scoring criteria in the SCIM IV form, and adjusted it to assess specific conditions or situations that the third version, SCIM III, does not address. Professional staff members assessed 648 SCL inpatients, using SCIM IV and SCIM III, at admission to rehabilitation, and at discharge. The authors examined the validity and reliability of SCIM IV subscale scores using Rasch analysis. RESULTS: The study included inpatients aged 16-87 years old. SCIM IV subscale scores fit the Rasch model. All item infit and most item outfit mean-square indices were below 1.4; statistically distinct strata of abilities were 2.6-6; most categories were properly ordered; item hierarchy was stable across most clinical subgroups and countries. In a few items, however, we found misfit or category threshold disordering. We found SCIM III and SCIM IV Rasch properties to be comparable. CONCLUSIONS: Rasch analysis suggests that the scores of each SCIM IV subscale are reliable and valid. This reinforces the justification for using SCIM IV in clinical practice and research.

Reducing opioid prescribing on discharge after orthopedic surgery: Does a guideline improve opioid prescribing practice?

AIM: To investigate adherence to discharge advice in a prescription opioid prescribing guideline (GL) post-orthopedic surgery. METHODS: The guideline in draft form was introduced in February 2018. To assess longer-term adherence to discharge advice and to understand which components of that advice were adhered to, regular audits of discharge prescribing were performed after formal GL launch in February 2019, a year after the draft of the GL had been available. The post-GL audit was conducted for three months (March to May 2019) and results reviewed. When these audit results showed a need for improvement in prescribing practice, a 1-month education "booster" named prescription opioid practice improvement safe opioid supply (POPI SOS) took place. Audits for a further 3 months (July to Sept 2019) were then carried out to ascertain whether the additional effort improved adherence to the guideline. RESULTS: On average, adherence to all elements of the guideline was low at only 23.1 percent at 12 months post-draft GL and 1 month after its formal launch. After POPI SOS, a statistically significant improvement was achieved with an average increase in adherence to 52.5 percent (ρ < 0.001). Greatest improvement was seen in the percentage of patients discharged with an opioid plan included in the discharge summary, increasing from 35.8 to 77.7 percent (ρ < 0.001). The second significant improvement observed was in the supply of opioids being limited to four days or less, an increase from 38.1 to 61.9 percent (ρ < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Introduction of the guideline was not sufficient to promote sustained change in practice. Ongoing monitoring and education were required for its implementation. These findings highlight that comprehensive, locally adapted, evidence-based opioid stewardship is needed to increase the safety of patients and the community in relation to opioid therapy.

Reducing opioid prescribing on discharge after orthopaedic surgery: does a guideline and education improve prescribing practice 1 year later?

BACKGROUND: An intervention Prescription Opioid Practice Improvement (POPI), addressing opioid prescribing on discharge following orthopaedic surgery, demonstrated improved practice. Here we report the sustainability of improved practice at 12 months, and the impact of a booster education intervention, POPI SOS (Safe Opioid Supply). METHODS: Audits were performed using methodology described in previously published studies. RESULTS: High proportion of patients were discharged on opioids, 89.9% 12 months post-POPI (n = 149) and 82.2% post-POPI SOS (n = 169). Twelve months post-POPI there was a significant reduction in combination immediate (IR) and slow release (SR) opioids, 45.7% at the end of POPI program to 34.3% at 12 months (χ2 (1, N = 364) = 4.47, ρ = 0.034); a significant decrease in opioid-weaning plans, 87.4% at the end of POPI program to 35.8% at 12 months (χ2 (1, N = 365) = 104.19, ρ = <0.001); and a significant increase in provision of full quantities of SR-opioids, 6.1% after the POPI program to 15.7% (χ2 (1, N = 364) = 8.95, ρ = 0.003). The POPI SOS booster program significantly improved measures including reduction in combination IR and SR, 34.3-22.3% (χ2 (1, N = 273) = 4.87, ρ = 0.028) and an increase in opioid plans in discharge summaries, from 35.8% to 77.7% (χ2 (1, N = 273) = 48.87, ρ < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Better practice in relation to opioid prescribing is achievable but, for sustained improvement, opioid stewardship activities are needed to reduce the potential harms associated with prescription opioids.

Targeted policy intervention for reducing red meat consumption: conflicts and trade-offs.

BACKGROUND: There are a range of policies and guidelines focused on meat consumption which aim to tackle health and environmental issues. Policies are often siloed in nature and propose universal limits on consumption. Despite this, there will be a number of conflicts and trade-offs between interest groups. This study explores secondary impacts associated with guidelines issued by the World Cancer Research Fund and assesses the utility of a targeted policy intervention strategy for reducing red meat consumption. METHODS: We used highly detailed consumption data of over 5,000 individuals from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. We firstly compared individual consumption against the policy guidelines to identify demographic groups most likely to consume above recommended levels. We then synthetically modified the food diary data to investigate the secondary impacts of adherence to the recommendations by all individuals. We assessed changes in overall consumption, nutrient intake (iron, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin B3, fat and saturated fat) and global warming potential. We also projected future impacts under various population projections. RESULTS: We found that certain demographic groups are much more likely to exceed the recommendations and would therefore benefit from a targeted intervention approach. Our results provide a baseline for which the impacts of any meat substitute diets can be assessed against. Whilst secondary health benefits may be realised by reducing intake of certain nutrients (e.g. fats), negative impacts may occur due to the reduced intake of other nutrients (e.g. iron, zinc). Reduced overall consumption is likely to have implications for the wider meat industry whilst complementary impacts would occur in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Impacts will be counteracted or maybe even reversed by any substitute products, highlighting the need to carefully consider the suitability and impacts of meat-replacements. CONCLUSION: The future structure of the meat industry will depend on how conflicts and trade-offs are addressed and how more holistic policy ideas are implemented. This research provides a framework for using demographic and consumption data to reduce negative trade-offs and improve policy effectiveness.

A flexible tool for the assessment of the economic cost of pig disease in growers and finishers at farm level.

Pigmeat is the most consumed red meat globally and consumption is expected to continue to increase. The sector is faced by the risk of epidemic and endemic disease impacts and other adverse influences. The aim of this study was to develop a dynamic simulation model of pig growing and finishing that can be used to model the financial and economic impacts of a variety of scenarios both related to disease effects and other influences on production. The model consists of a physical performance module and financial performance module. The core of the physical performance module comprises three stocks to model the flow of pigs from purchase to slaughter. Mortality rates, daily live weight gain and feed conversion ratios influence the dynamics of the physical performance. Since contracts between farmers and slaughterhouses often include large price penalties for over- and underweight pigs, carcase weight distribution is an important determinant of revenues. The physical performance module, therefore, simulates slaughter weight variations. The financial performance module calculates revenue, costs and gross margins. The revenue calculations take into account price penalties for over- and underweight pigs. To demonstrate the capabilities of the model, we apply the model to assess the economic consequences of production impacts associated with respiratory disease. We use estimated production impacts associated with respiratory disease from a study of all-in-all out growing and finishing systems based on pig production data and information from slaughterhouse monitoring in the UK. Our model suggests a reduction in the gross margin of nearly 40 % as a consequence of the estimated production impacts associated with a 10% increase in respiratory disease prevalence. Due to the lack of reliable information on slaughter weight variation, we also simulate the model using different assumptions about the slaughter weight distribution. An increase in the standard deviation of carcase weights from 8 kg to 12 kg, holding average weights constant, more than halves gross margins under our scenarios. We suggest that for all-in-all-out systems, carcase weight variation is likely to be a substantial factor in reducing income in the presence of respiratory disease and the economic impact of respiratory disease may be underestimated if the effects of disease on variation in carcase weights are not included in any analysis.

Judgment Bias During Gestation in Domestic Pigs.

In humans and rats, changes in affect are known to occur during pregnancy, however it is unknown how gestation may influence mood in other non-human mammals. This study assessed changes in pigs' judgment bias as a measure of affective state throughout gestation. Pigs were trained to complete a spatial judgment bias task with reference to positive and negative locations. We tested gilts before mating, and during early and late gestation, by assessing their responses to ambiguous probe locations. Pigs responded increasingly negatively to ambiguous probes as gestation progressed and there were consistent inter-individual differences in baseline optimism. This suggests that the pigs' affective state may be altered during gestation, although as a non-pregnant control group was not tested, an effect of learning cannot be ruled out. These results suggest that judgment bias is altered during gestation in domestic pigs, consequently raising novel welfare considerations for captive multiparous species.

Assessing the impact of free-roaming dog population management through systems modelling.

Free-roaming dogs can present significant challenges to public health, wildlife conservation, and livestock production. Free-roaming dogs may also experience poor health and welfare. Dog population management is widely conducted to mitigate these issues. To ensure efficient use of resources, it is critical that effective, cost-efficient, and high-welfare strategies are identified. The dog population comprises distinct subpopulations characterised by their restriction status and level of ownership, but the assessment of dog population management often fails to consider the impact of the interaction between subpopulations on management success. We present a system dynamics model that incorporates an interactive and dynamic system of dog subpopulations. Methods incorporating both fertility control and responsible ownership interventions (leading to a reduction in abandonment and roaming of owned dogs, and an increase in shelter adoptions) have the greatest potential to reduce free-roaming dog population sizes over longer periods of time, whilst being cost-effective and improving overall welfare. We suggest that future management should be applied at high levels of coverage and should target all sources of population increase, such as abandonment, births, and owners of free-roaming dogs, to ensure effective and cost-efficient reduction in free-roaming dog numbers.

Attitudes towards free-roaming dogs and dog ownership practices in Bulgaria, Italy, and Ukraine.

Free-roaming dog population management is conducted to mitigate risks to public health, livestock losses, wildlife conservation, and dog health and welfare. This study aimed to determine attitudes towards free-roaming dogs and their management and describe dog ownership practices in three European countries. We distributed an online questionnaire comprising questions relating to dog ownership practices and attitudes towards free-roaming dogs using social media. We used logistic regression and ordinal probit models to determine associations between demographic and other factors with ownership practices and attitudes towards free-roaming dogs. This study found that most surveyed respondents wanted to see a reduction in free-roaming dog numbers, and felt that this should be achieved through sheltering, catch-neuter-release, and by controlling owned dog breeding. We identified significant associations between both attitudes and ownership practices with gender, religious beliefs, age, education level, reason for dog ownership, previous experience with free-roaming dogs, and country of residence. Respondents who identified as: (i) male, (ii) holding religious beliefs, (iii) owning dogs for practical reasons, (iv) being young, or (v) having no schooling or primary education had a lower probability of neutering and a higher probability of allowing dogs to roam. Respondents who identified as: (i) female, (ii) feeling threatened by free-roaming dogs, (iii) older, or (iv) having more education had a higher probability of answering that increases in free-roaming dog numbers should be prevented. These findings can help to inform future dog population management interventions in these countries. We emphasise the importance of considering local attitudes and dog ownership practices in the development of effective dog population management approaches.