Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP CEP: 05508-270, Brazil.
Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP CEP: 05508-270, Brazil.
Res Vet Sci. 2020 Apr;129:180-184. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.01.021. Epub 2020 Jan 30.
In many locations, the highest proportion of roaming dogs and cats, might have owners. The prevention of roaming in owned dogs and cats is a key intervention to reduce the number of unsupervised animals in public spaces. Sterilization is an important population management intervention but it is unclear if, apart from its effects on birth rates and animal behavior, it also affects the roaming status of owned dogs and cats. We formulated a directed acyclic graph to represent a causal hypothesis regarding the effect of sex, age and sterilization on roaming behavior in owned dogs and cats. The causal hypothesis was tested using survey data and Bayesian multilevel logistic regressions. The odds of roaming were lower in sterilized dogs and cats but the credible interval (CI) supported the effect of sterilization only for dogs. The odds of roaming were higher in both male dogs and cats and the CI supported the effect of sex. The CI did not support the effect of age on roaming, irrespective of species. If the observed association between sterilization and roaming was causal, then sterilization may contribute to a reduction in roaming. Studies on other populations and the exploration of other potential determinants of roaming are required to better understand the causal relationship between sterilization and roaming.
在许多地方，流浪犬猫中比例最高的，可能是有主人的。预防有主犬猫游荡是减少公共空间中无人监管动物数量的关键干预措施。绝育是一种重要的种群管理干预措施，但尚不清楚除了对出生率和动物行为的影响外，它是否还会影响有主犬猫的游荡状态。我们制定了一个有向无环图来表示绝育对有主犬猫游荡行为影响的因果假设。使用调查数据和贝叶斯多层次逻辑回归对因果假设进行了检验。绝育犬猫游荡的可能性较低，但绝育的置信区间（CI）仅支持犬的影响。公犬和公猫游荡的可能性更高，CI 支持性别的影响。CI 不支持年龄对游荡的影响，与物种无关。如果绝育与游荡之间的观察到的关联是因果关系，那么绝育可能有助于减少游荡。需要对其他人群进行研究，并探索游荡的其他潜在决定因素，以更好地理解绝育和游荡之间的因果关系。
