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.

Population dynamics of free-roaming dogs in two European regions and implications for population control.

Changes in free-roaming dog population size are important indicators of the effectiveness of dog population management. Assessing the effectiveness of different management methods also requires estimating the processes that change population size, such as the rates of recruitment into and removal from a population. This is one of the first studies to quantify the size, rates of recruitment and removal, and health and welfare status of free-roaming dog populations in Europe. We determined the size, dynamics, and health status of free-roaming dog populations in Pescara, Italy, and Lviv, Ukraine, over a 15-month study period. Both study populations had ongoing dog population management through catch-neuter-release and sheltering programmes. Average monthly apparent survival probability was 0.93 (95% CI 0.81-1.00) in Pescara and 0.93 (95% CI 0.84-0.99) in Lviv. An average of 7 dogs km-2 were observed in Pescara and 40 dogs km-2 in Lviv. Per capita entry probabilities varied between 0.09 and 0.20 in Pescara, and 0.12 and 0.42 in Lviv. In Lviv, detection probability was lower on weekdays (odds ratio: 0.74, 95% CI 0.53-0.96) and higher on market days (odds ratio: 2.58, 95% CI 1.28-4.14), and apparent survival probability was lower in males (odds ratio: 0.25, 95% CI 0.03-0.59). Few juveniles were observed in the study populations, indicating that recruitment may be occurring by movement between dog subpopulations (e.g. from local owned or neighbouring free-roaming dog populations), with important consequences for population control. This study provides important data for planning effective dog population management and for informing population and infectious disease modelling.