School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
VIER PFOTEN International, Vienna, Austria.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 6;12(1):11452. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-15049-1.
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.
流浪犬可能对公共卫生、野生动物保护和畜牧业生产造成重大挑战。流浪犬也可能健康和福利状况不佳。广泛开展犬只种群管理，以减轻这些问题。为了确保资源的有效利用，必须确定有效、具有成本效益和高福利的策略。犬种群由具有限制状态和所有权水平的不同亚种群组成，但犬只种群管理的评估往往未能考虑到亚种群之间相互作用对管理成功的影响。我们提出了一个系统动力学模型，该模型纳入了犬只亚种群的互动和动态系统。将生育控制和负责任的饲养干预（导致减少遗弃和游荡的犬只，以及增加收容所收养）相结合的方法最有可能在较长时间内减少流浪犬的数量，同时具有成本效益并提高整体福利。我们建议未来的管理应在较高的覆盖水平上实施，并应针对所有的种群增长源，如遗弃、出生和流浪犬的主人，以确保有效和具有成本效益地减少流浪犬的数量。
