Assessing the effect of a canine surgical-neutering educational programme on the knowledge and confidence of Indian veterinary participants.

India has a large, free-roaming dog population, encompassing both owned and stray dogs. Canine surgical neutering is often a central component of dog population management and rabies control initiatives. The provision of practical, surgical training opportunities remains a major challenge for veterinary educational establishments worldwide to ensure competency in this routine procedure. A 12-day educational programme, focusing on surgical neutering skills, was developed to address this need. A questionnaire comprising 26 questions covering surgical and clinical topics, and a self-assessment of confidence in undertaking five common surgical procedures, was completed immediately before and after finishing the programme. A total of 296 participants attended, with 228 achieving the inclusion criteria for the study. Total knowledge scores increased significantly after the training programme (mean score pre-18.94, 95% CI 18.13-19.74; post-28.11, 95% CI 27.44-28.77, p < 0.05) with improvements seen in all categories (surgical principles, anaesthesia, antibiotic use and wound management). After accounting for other participants' characteristics, scores increased, on average, by 9 points after training. Being female was associated with significantly higher overall scores, while compared to younger and older age groups, those aged 25-34 were associated with lower overall scores. Amongst those with post-graduate qualifications, overall scores increased with age. Furthermore, there was an increase in self-rated confidence by participants in undertaking all five procedures. This study demonstrates that a targeted training programme can improve veterinary participants' knowledge and confidence in canine surgical neutering and may provide an effective way to develop surgical expertise amongst veterinarians engaged in dog population management initiatives.

Sharing the Load by One Health: Integrating Canine Rabies Vaccination With Bovine Foot-and-Mouth Vaccination Program and Community Public Health Services in Rural Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Background: India carries the largest national burden for rabies globally. Coordinating large-scale canine rabies elimination programs is challenging, particularly in rural areas, where the majority of human rabies deaths occur. This study evaluated the feasibility of combining canine rabies vaccination with pre-existing animal-health interventions or public health programs in a rural area of India. Materials and Methods: Canine rabies vaccination teams collaborated with a bi-annual bovine foot-and-mouth vaccination program coordinated by the Animal Husbandry Department (AH-collaboration) and with a village health program by the Public Health Department (PH-collaboration) in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, to vaccinate dogs during the implementation of these government-led health initiatives. Results: A total of 251 dogs were vaccinated over 7 days during the AH-collaboration, and 1083 dogs were vaccinated over 15 days during the PH-collaboration. The AH-collaboration achieved a vaccination coverage of 76% based on same-time sighting survey, and 58% based on post-vaccination survey. The PH-collaboration achieved vaccination coverage of 79% based on the same-time survey and 83% based on the post-vaccination survey. Conclusions: The integration of mass dog vaccination into existing government sector initiatives may facilitate the scaling up of canine rabies vaccination campaigns.

Recurrent horizontal transfer identifies mitochondrial positive selection in a transmissible cancer.

Autonomous replication and segregation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) creates the potential for evolutionary conflict driven by emergence of haplotypes under positive selection for 'selfish' traits, such as replicative advantage. However, few cases of this phenomenon arising within natural populations have been described. Here, we survey the frequency of mtDNA horizontal transfer within the canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), a contagious cancer clone that occasionally acquires mtDNA from its hosts. Remarkably, one canine mtDNA haplotype, A1d1a, has repeatedly and recently colonised CTVT cells, recurrently replacing incumbent CTVT haplotypes. An A1d1a control region polymorphism predicted to influence transcription is fixed in the products of an A1d1a recombination event and occurs somatically on other CTVT mtDNA backgrounds. We present a model whereby 'selfish' positive selection acting on a regulatory variant drives repeated fixation of A1d1a within CTVT cells.

Prevalence of skin wounds in working donkeys in Bukombe, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Preventable wounds are a common welfare issue in working donkeys in many countries. In the Bukombe District of Tanzania, there are estimated to be 3000 working donkeys, used primarily to transport loads for direct income generation. For historical reasons, oxen-yoke carts are used; their design is inappropriate for donkeys and results in serious neck wounds. The project aim was to assess the prevalence and nature of wounds in working donkeys. METHODS: In November 2018, 148 donkeys owned by 48 owners were examined, and data were collected. RESULTS: The study revealed that one or more wounds were present in 56.1% of the population and yoke-related, dorsal neck wounds comprised 79.5% of these. These wounds ranged in surface area from 1 cm2 to 300 cm2. Clinically, 96.6% of all wound types were superficial and the majority of these (51.1%) were granulating. CONCLUSION: These data will enable the future evaluation of targeted interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of these specific wounds.

Assessment of an Educational Intervention on the Knowledge and Attitudes of Indian National Veterinarians to Animal Welfare and Euthanasia.

The teaching of animal welfare in Indian veterinary education is limited. Current knowledge and attitudes to animal welfare and euthanasia, and the effect of a targeted educational intervention, were assessed in 84 Indian national and 49 non-Indian veterinarians attending a 2-week training course run by the Worldwide Veterinary Service in Tamil Nadu. A pre-intervention questionnaire, comprising knowledge and attitude questions on animal welfare and ethical issues, was completed. Fifteen students were then retained as a control group. The intervention group was exposed to a predesigned lecture and case studies (day 6). At the end of the course (day 12), another identical questionnaire was completed. Initially, there was no difference in knowledge of the control or intervention groups of Indian participants. Overall knowledge scores were lower in Indian participants compared with non-Indian participants (p < 0.05). Both groups' scores increased after the course (p < 0.05), with the Indian participants improving the most. Indian participants' attitudes were supportive of animal welfare and euthanasia prior to the intervention. Improvements in scores, with some reaching significance (p < 0.05), were observed post-intervention. Non-Indian participants' attitudes were more supportive of animal welfare and euthanasia with strongly agree/strongly disagree chosen more frequently than Indian responses. Both groups' self-assessment of their understanding of these topics improved post-intervention (p < 0.01). No prominent differences were found in questionnaire responses in the control cohort. This study shows that a targeted educational intervention impacts on Indian veterinarians' knowledge and attitudes toward animal welfare and euthanasia, and is relevant to organizations aiming to improve animal welfare standards in India.

Prevalence of mutilations and other skin wounds in working donkeys in Tamil Nadu, India.

Wounds in working donkeys are a common and preventable welfare problem in many countries. Mutilations, iatrogenic injuries carried out by owners, are a particularly distressing welfare issue. However, little is known about their nature and prevalence. The project aim was to assess the general health and establish the prevalence, nature and severity of mutilations and other skin wounds in donkeys from several communities in Tamil Nadu, India, that were part of a donkey welfare initiative run by the Worldwide Veterinary Service charity. Five hundred and eighty-two donkeys were examined from five locations and data collected using a predesigned, smartphone app between October 2016 and July 2017. The study revealed that 298 wounds were present in a total of 227 donkeys (39.0 per cent of the population). Mutilations, comprising nose-splitting, ear-splitting and branding, were the most common type of skin wound, comprising 62.8 per cent of all wounds. Poorly fitting harnesses and hobbles were also a common cause of injury. These data can be used to design future-targeted and focused, educational interventions to reduce mutilation practices which are a common and important welfare issue. Further outreach initiatives are urgently needed to improve welfare of donkeys in these regions.

Mitochondrial genetic diversity, selection and recombination in a canine transmissible cancer.

Canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) is a clonally transmissible cancer that originated approximately 11,000 years ago and affects dogs worldwide. Despite the clonal origin of the CTVT nuclear genome, CTVT mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) have been acquired by periodic capture from transient hosts. We sequenced 449 complete mtDNAs from a global population of CTVTs, and show that mtDNA horizontal transfer has occurred at least five times, delineating five tumour clades whose distributions track two millennia of dog global migration. Negative selection has operated to prevent accumulation of deleterious mutations in captured mtDNA, and recombination has caused occasional mtDNA re-assortment. These findings implicate functional mtDNA as a driver of CTVT global metastatic spread, further highlighting the important role of mtDNA in cancer evolution.