Electronic consultation: 13 September – 8 October 2010
Call for documents and invitation
Source:
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.
Organization
The consultation will address the following aspects and we will focus on each one for a week:
1. Review the current state of knowledge on dog population management options with special
emphasis on animal welfare and health consideration;
2. Analyze the implementation of existing relevant OIE international standards (available at: http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/mcode/en_chapitre_1.7.7.htm );
3. Identify case studies and best practices for the development of context specific options for dog population management, on the basis of scientific evidence and ethical considerations; and
4. Recommend further actions and identify research needs at national and international level to address dog population management options with special emphasis on animal welfare and health.
Participants are encouraged to send any relevant information (papers, publications, data, etc.) they wish to share before the 13th of September and throughout the duration of the consultation. This will ensure a rich and fruitful exchange of reflection, knowledge and ideas before and during the consultation and a continuous contribution of additional relevant information. Contributors should indicate if they are willing to have the documents posted online with free access to all Internet users or if they would prefer sharing them only with other participants.
Moderated contributions will be posted and made accessible on the Gateway to Farm Animal Welfare at www.fao.org/ag/animalwelfare.html. Contributions can be provided in English, French and Spanish (and will be summarized in English). At the end of each week a report of each aspect will be produced and distributed for additional inputs and comments. The final report of the consultation will acknowledge all contributors; it will be published electronically and serve as a background document for the technical meeting in 2011.
To subscribe
If you are interested to contribute to this electronic consultation please send a completed subscription form (here included) to dog-population-management@fao.org. Please feel free to contact us should you need any additional information.
Looking forward to your active participation,
Daniela Battaglia
Livestock Production Officer
Animal Production and Health Division
FAO
Tel.: +39.06.57056773
Fax: +39.06.57055749
daniela.battaglia@fao.org
Katinka de Balogh
Senior Officer
Veterinary Public Health
Animal Health Service
FAO
Tel.: +39.06.57056110
Fax: +39.06.57055749
katinka.debalogh@fao.org
Illia Rosenthal
Consultant
Linking and learning in partnership for
sustainable development
Animal Production and Health Division
FAO
Tel.: +39 06 570 52196
illia.rosenthal@fao.org
