This document discusses companion animals and neutering as it relates to street dogs. It notes that street dog populations come from owned dogs that roam or are abandoned, as well as from natural reproduction among roaming dogs. This causes problems like disease transmission, nuisance, and welfare issues. Impounding and dumping dogs are ineffective solutions and cause further issues. The most effective approach is TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release), which involves sterilizing dogs to control populations, vaccinating against rabies, treating other diseases, and releasing them back to their locations. The document provides some case studies of successful TNVR programs and discusses the role of international training centers in sharing knowledge between animal welfare charities worldwide

1. Companion Animals and
Neutering
Luke Gamble MRCVS
Worldwide Veterinary Service

3. Our Companions
QuickTime™ and a
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4. So what’s the problem?

5. In a nutshell
• Pets allowed to roam
• ‘Community Dogs’
• True Strays

6. Where do street dogs come
from?

7. •Migration from surrounding areas
•Translocation of dogs from other areas
•Natural reproduction in roaming dogs
•Abandoned owned dogs
•Abandoned unwanted litters of pups
Other Sources of dogs

8. What’s the problem?
• Transmission of disease to humans
• Injury and fear to humans and other
animals
• Public nuisance
• Animal welfare concern

9. Where is it an issue?

10. Mexico

11. India

12. Thailand

13. Zambia

14. Uganda

15. Peru

16. Global community for animal
welfare
• Same problems all over the world
• Key thing is to pool resources in working
out best practice for helping ‘community
animals’

17. Why not just kill the dogs?
• Inhumane, dangerous
- and INEFFECTIVE
• New dogs migrate in to fill the ecological niche
• These new dogs are not rabies vaccinated or
sterilised
• Religious and cultural taboos
• Killing causes great distress to the general
public - especially children
• Negative publicity

18. Impounding street dogs
Expensive, need large facilities and staff
Constant catching - not net change in
community numbers
Huge animal welfare issues if not done well
Don’t help a street dog problem

19. Having said that…
• Shelters can be great to help individual
animals
• Re-homing centres
• Raise awareness and public education
• But are very tough to manage and run

20. Dumping Dogs
• Does not address cause
• Most dogs return to their territory
• Influx of new dogs leads to greater
aggression and fighting over territory
• Neighbours will return the favour!

21. So how do we crack it ?
It’s as easy as TNVR… (ABC for short)
• Sterilisation to reduce population
• Anti-Rabies vaccination
• Treatment of other diseases eg scabies.
• Release to original location following recovery from
surgery
• Public awareness
• Collaboration with local authorities

22. How to do it - a few case
studies
LSPCA Malawi

23. HART - Nepal

24. Zambia

25. Richard

27. The International Training
Centre
• A unique global resource - pooling
knowledge from charities working on the
front line of animal welfare from all over
the world

29. WVS
• On average we send one vet per week
• We help over 200 animal charities every year
• Send out £10,000 worth of veterinary medicine
and equipment every week
• Last year 14,648 (40 a day) animals directly
treated by WVS teams

30. Thank you!