Free-ranging urban dog
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Street dogs, known in scientific literature as free-ranging urban dogs, are unconfined dogs that live in cities. They live virtually everywhere where cities exist and the local human population allows, especially in the
developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
and the
former USSR The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...
. Street dogs may be
stray dogs A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...
, pets which have strayed from or are abandoned by their owners, or may be feral animals that have never been owned. Street dogs may be stray purebreds, true
mixed-breed dog A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongrel ...
s, or unbred landraces such as the
Indian pariah dog The Indian pariah dog, also known as the Indian native dog or INDog, South Asian pye dog and Desi Kutta, is a landrace of dog native to the Indian subcontinent. They have erect ears, a wedge-shaped head, and a curved tail. It is easily trainabl ...
. Street dog overpopulation can cause problems for the societies in which they live, so campaigns to spay and neuter them are sometimes implemented. They tend to differ from rural free-ranging dogs in their skill sets, socialization, and ecological effects.


Problems caused by street dogs


Bites

Like wolves, to survive, street dogs need to avoid conflict with humans. However, dog bites and
dog attack A dog bite is a bite upon a person or other animal by a dog, including from a rabid dog. More than one successive bite is often called a dog attack, although dog attacks can include knock-downs and scratches. Though some dog bites do not result ...
s can occur when dogs are trying to mate or fighting among themselves, and pedestrians and other humans in the vicinity may be bitten by fighting. Rabies is a major problem in some countries. India has more than 30 million stray dogs with more than 20,000 people dying of rabies every year.


Quality of life

Barking and howling and dog fights over mating among dogs can be disturbing to people, and the smell of
dog urine Urination, also known as micturition, is the release of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, voiding, uresis, ...
which is a product of territory marking may become quite pungent among un-spayed or neutered dogs, not to mention the presence of
feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
(
toxocariasis Toxocariasis is an illness of humans caused by the dog roundworm (''Toxocara canis'') and, less frequently, the cat roundworm (''Toxocara cati'').https://academic.oup.com/ajcp/article/142/suppl_1/A104/1771175 Eosinophilic Pseudoleukemia Due to To ...
).


Skills and adaptations

Dogs are known to be a highly adaptive and intelligent species. To survive in modern cities, street dogs must be able to navigate traffic. Some of the stray dogs in Bucharest are seen crossing the large streets at pedestrian crosswalks. The dogs have probably noticed that when humans cross streets at such markings, cars tend to stop. The dogs have accustomed themselves to the flow of pedestrian and automobile traffic; they sit patiently with the people at the curb when they are stopped for a red light, and then cross with them as they have noticed how cars stop when a large number of people cross the road like that. In cities in the other countries, street dogs are said to have been observed to use subway and bus services.


Free-ranging urban dogs by country


South Asia


Afghanistan

Nowzad is an organisation in Afghanistan that works to rescue stray dogs in that country. A group of stray dogs became famous in Afghanistan after confronting a suicide bomber, preventing fifty American soldiers from being killed. However, one of the surviving dogs, Target, was mistakenly euthanized when she was brought to the United States.


India

Due to the collapse of vulture populations in India, which formerly consumed large quantities of dead animal carcasses and terminated certain pathogens from the food chain, India's urban street dog populations have exploded and become a health hazard. Mumbai, for example, has over 12 million human residents, over half of whom are slum-dwellers. At least five hundred tons of garbage remain uncollected daily. Therefore, conditions are perfect for supporting a particularly large population of stray dogs. In 2001, a law passed in India making the killing of stray dogs illegal has exacerbated the problems related to street dogs, increasing the street dog population and causing rabies cases in humans to rise. India has the highest number of human rabies deaths in the world (estimated at 20,000 per year). "Catch and kill" programmes have been a traditional solution to overwhelming dog populations, but there are also programmes such as the Animal Birth Control-Anti-Rabies (ABC-AR) programme started by Blue Cross of India based in Chennai, India. Several dog shelters throughout India emphasize the rescue of stray dogs, especially in South and North eastern parts of India.


Pakistan

In Pakistan, several dog breeds exist including the Gaddi Kutta,
Indian pariah dog The Indian pariah dog, also known as the Indian native dog or INDog, South Asian pye dog and Desi Kutta, is a landrace of dog native to the Indian subcontinent. They have erect ears, a wedge-shaped head, and a curved tail. It is easily trainabl ...
, Bully Kutta, among others. In the city of Lahore, the Public Health Department launched a campaign to kill 5,000 stray dogs. In 2009, 27,576 dogs were killed within the city of Lahore; in 2005, this number was 34,942. In 2012, after 900 dogs were killed in the city of Multan, the Animal Safety Organisation in Pakistan sent a letter to Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif recommending that "stray dogs be vaccinated rather than killed." Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, there is a No-Kill Policy for street dogs, hence neutering and vaccinating are encouraged. Despite the proposal for an updated Animal Welfare Act, century-ol
law
against animal cruelty still exist, so they are subjected to cruelty in various forms.


Europe


Italy

Around 80% of abandoned dogs die early due to lack of survival skills.


Romania

In Romania, free-ranging urban dogs (called in Romanian ''câini maidanezi'', literally "wasteland dogs", ''câini comunitari'' "community dogs", etc.) have been a huge problem in recent decades, especially in larger cities, with many people being bitten by dogs. The problem originates primarily in the systematization programme that took place in Communist Romania in the 1970s and 1980s under Nicolae Ceaușescu, who enacted a mass programme of demolition and reconstruction of existing villages, towns, and cities, in whole or in part, in order to build standardized blocks of flats (''blocuri''). The dogs from the yards of the demolished houses were abandoned on the streets, and reproduced, multiplying their numbers throughout the years. Estimations for Bucharest vary widely, but the number of stray dogs has been reduced drastically in 2014, after the death of a 4-year-old child in 2013 who was attacked by a dog. The Bucharest City Hall stated that over 51,200 stray dogs were captured from October 2013 to January 2015, with more than half being euthanized, about 23,000 being adopted, and 2,000 still residing in the municipality's shelters.


Russia

Stray dogs are very common in Russia. They are found both in the countryside and in urban areas. In Russia, street dogs are accepted by the common people and are even fed by the local population, including in the capital city of Moscow. However, capturing of stray dogs by doghunters' vans and being culled has been documented since around 1900. The number of street dogs in Moscow is estimated to be up to 50,000 animals. Their sad lot was dramatized by
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
in the famous short story '' Kashtanka'', by
Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...
in the novella '' Heart of a Dog'', and by Gavriil Troyepolsky in the novel ''
White Bim Black Ear ''White Bim Black Ear'' (russian: Белый Бим Чёрное ухо, translit. ''Belyy Bim, Chyornoe ukho'') is a 1977 Soviet drama film directed by Stanislav Rostotsky. It is based upon the book of the same name, written by Gavriil Troy ...
''. When the number of street dogs massively increased in the 1990s and in the beginning of the new millennium it came to many attacks on human, the dogs were captured and killed. In recent years the attitude and strategy towards street dogs has changed. The dogs are caught, sterilized and it is ensured that the dogs have enough to eat. The dogs keep the city free of food leftovers and rats. Since 2002 in Moscow there exists a monument dedicated to the stray dog called
Malchik Malchik (russian: Мальчик, lit=Little Boy; 1996 – December 2001) was a black mixed-breed dog, mongrel Free-ranging urban dog, stray dog living in Moscow, Russia. For about three years, Malchik lived at the Mendeleyevskaya, Mendeleyevska ...
( Eng: "Little boy"). Stray dogs in Moscow have adapted their behavior to traffic and the life of Moscow. The dogs even ride the metro and understand the rules of traffic lights and are often called Moscow's metro dogs.


Serbia

Free-ranging dogs are a serious problem of the Serbian cities and rural areas. The total number of free-ranging dogs in Serbia is estimated at several tens of thousands, of which the largest groups can be found in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
(more than 17,000), Novi Sad (about 10,000), Niš (between 7,000 and 10,000),
Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...
(about 8,000) and
Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...
(about 5,000).


Turkey

While many developing countries harbor high numbers of stray dogs as a result of neglect, Turkey’s problem is a little different. In 2004, Turkish government passed a law requiring local officials to rehabilitate rather than annihilate stray dogs. The Animal Protection Law No. 5199 states a no kill, no capture policy, and unlawful euthanization are prosecutable offenses. It requires animals to be sterilized, vaccinated, and taken back to the place where they were found. Another reason for the increase in stray dog numbers is that it is easier to adopt a dog in Turkey than in many other nations. Even "dangerous breeds" could be homed before the "dangerous dogs" bill was passed at the beginning of 2022. Still, this means the vetting process for dog ownership is not extensive. There is no real punishment for discarding dogs to streets. Istanbul, the most populous city of the country, is home to one of the highest concentrations of stray animals, with an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 dogs and cats roaming the streets. In total, it is estimated that more than 10 millions of stray dogs live in Turkey and expected to rise up to 60 million in 10 years.


North America


United States

Each year, approximately 2.7 million dogs and cats are euthanized because shelters are too full and there are not enough adoptive homes. In 2016, between 592,255 and 866,366 street dogs were euthanized in the US.


Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, street dogs (and cats) are known as . In the late 1990s it was estimated there were 50,000 street dogs in the U.S. territory. By 2018 there were around 300,000 stray dogs in Puerto Rico. Programs to address the problem have been launched by the Humane Society of Puerto Rico and others. In 2018, a non-profit organization called
Sato Project The Sato Project is an animal rescue and protection organization founded in 2011 by British-born Christina Beckles. It works to rescue abused and abandoned dogs in Puerto Rico, educating the public, and advocating for abused and abandoned dogs. ...
launched its first "spayathon", a large-scale project to spay and neuter of Puerto Rico. Other initiatives include having mainland U.S. residents adopt the island dogs.


South-East Asia


Philippines

Locally known as Askals, street dogs in the Philippines, while sometimes exhibiting mixing with breed dogs from elsewhere, are generally native unbred mongrel dogs.


Thailand


See also

* Dogs portal *
Coydog A coydog is a canid hybrid resulting from a mating between a male coyote and a female dog. Hybrids of both sexes are fertile and can be successfully bred through four generations. Similarly, a dogote is a hybrid with a dog father and a coyote mother ...
* Taiwan Dog *
Rez dog Rez dog (short for reservation dog) is usually a term for outdoor, stray, and feral dogs living on Indigenous reservations in the United States and Canada. The term has taken on many connotations, and has to some extent become an emblem of and ...
* Pariah dog * Wolfdog


References


Further reading

*Beck, Alan M .1973. The ecology of stray dogs: A study of free-ranging urban animals. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press e-books. *Ecollage. 2002. Dog Population Management & Canine Rabies Control. India's Official Dog Control Program in an international context. Pune. pp. 1–9 *Irvine, Leslie. 2003. "The Problem of Unwanted Pets: A Case Study in How Institutions "Think" about Clients' Needs" in Social Problems. Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 550–566 *Kato Masahiko, Hideki Yamamoto, Yoshihide Inukai and Shohei Kira. 2203. "Survey of the Stray Dog Population and the Health Education Program on the Prevention of Dog Bites and Dog-Acquired Infections: A Comparative Study in Nepal and Okayama Prefecture, Japan" in Acta Med. Okayama, Vol. 57. No. 5, pp. 261–266


External links

* {{Domestic dog Feral dogs Dog, Free-ranging urban