Electronic consultation : 13 September – 8 October 2010
Call for documents and invitation
Source:

Background
In many countries, an increasing number of unvaccinated and uncared for dogs are roaming in urban spaces and human habitats. This is often due to the increase in urban food waste, the consequences of civil strife, when people had to abandon their dogs for fear that when the animals would bark, the enemy could to locate their owners and kill or abduct them, or simply because of lack of responsible ownership.

These stray and feral dogs give rise to a series of human health, animal health and welfare concerns and the management of their populations has ethical, socio-economic, political and religious impacts in many countries. FAO acknowledges that human health, including the prevention of zoonotic diseases notably, but not only rabies, is a priority , as it negatively affects people’s lives in many ways.

Dogs play a number of important roles in human societies: for example, they are used for herding other animals and guarding property. Families may also have dogs as pets and consider them as part of their social status. When cattle and donkeys die from rabies, households may not be able to replace them and lose an important asset for farming and transportation. However, the importance of managing dog populations without causing unnecessary animal suffering is a must.

Several options of dog population management have been tried out in many countries worldwide and to learn from these experiences, FAO is organizing an e-consultation that will be followed by a technical meeting. This will be a stocktaking exercise describing the current status and analyzing the reasons for the successes or failures in applying different practices to then draw conclusions for the future.

Objective
The main objective of this e-consultation is to identify dog population management options with special emphasis on animal welfare and health. We will also collect relevant information, data and ideas to prepare background documents for a technical meeting, which will be held by FAO jointly with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and other organizations in the first quarter of 2011.

The e-consultation will provide an opportunity for researchers, development workers, national and local authorities and the international community at large with an interest in dog population management, to share their knowledge and experiences.

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