THE SOCIETY’S PERCEPTION OF THE LIFE QUALITY AND POPULATION CONTROL OF STRAY DOGS

• Published in: Ciência animal brasileira Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 574 - 588
• Main Authors: Flavio Fernando Batista Moutinho, Elmiro Rosendo do Nascimento, Rita Leal Paixão
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Goiás 01-10-2015
• Subjects: population control; social perception; stray dog
• ISSN: 1518-2797; 1809-6891
• DOI: 10.1590/1089-6891v16i430468

In most Brazilian municipalities there is an overpopulation of stray dogs, which causes problems to the urban order, the environment and the public health, in addition to mistreatment to these dogs. In such context we foresee the need of developing actions targeting the population control of these animals. This essay aims at knowing the perception of social actors, such as managers of entities responsible for control actions, managers of NGOs working with animal protection and population in general with respect to the life quality and population control of stray dogs. Questionnaires were used on samples of individuals of these three groups and the data thereof were analyzed with descriptive statistics techniques and frequency comparison. The results allowed us to conclude that the society’s perception of population control and life quality of these animals bear important differences under the viewpoint of the three evaluated groups; however, they also bear significant similarities, especially with respect to the perception of the responsibility for the development of population control actions, the acceptance of using public funds intended to public health in control actions, the classification of such population density as large and the poor life quality of these animals. population control, social perception, stray dog.,