(not my first language, ask for clarification if something sounds too stupid)
My city is facing a problem: there are packs of dogs everywhere. They don't get violent, but diseases like sporotrichosis and leishmaniasis are starting to spread - the former didn't even exist in my region until recently.
Lower income families are at the most risk of contracting those, as they are more likely to be in contact with street animals. For example, according to my vet, almost every single dog or cat roaming the central street market is carrying sporotrichosis.
In a very superficial analysis, it appears that the dog population has grown according to the deterioration of the financial situation of the local lower middle class. I believe that those families, when faced with financial hardship, aren't able to pay for food and care for a pet and ultimately decide to let them go.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, literally nothing is being made about this. In a close, smaller city, where the problem got way out of hand, they proposed a plan to capture every street animal and... well, take a guess. I'm willing to bet money that this will come to be the case here, too.
The one thing I thought about was giving dog food and/or a small sum of money for low income pet-owning families so that they can care for them at home. But a) the city is broke, and b) that doesn't solve the hundreds of dogs currently roaming the streets. Nobody, including me, seems to be able to come up with anything other than what the neighboring city did, or the individualistic approach of adoption publicity.
So, I'm asking you: what are some humane ways of dealing with this that is effective in reducing street dog population and the spread of zoonosis? Maybe we can come up with something I can develop and present at the city hall.
Avenue for research: why is it that most American cities don't have feral dogs, while in other countries (e.g. India) they're ubiquitous? We have feral cats but I can't remember the last time I saw a wild dog just walking around. Is is really just the financial stability of dog owners or is it something else (active euthanasia campaigns, etc )?
Feral dog and cat populations aren't really a thing in Europe either, tbh, certainly not in Northern Europe. I think there might be populations of urban feral cats in warmer places like Italy. I'm gonna say climate plays a big part.
Also, dogs are pretty large animals and need a lot of food compared to rats, pigeons, seagulls or cats which I imagine is harder to come by in more developed regions with better waste management
This made me think of how in old cartoons from the 1940s and 50s and before, you'd often see professional dog catchers :thinking-about-it:
I was thinking about this too. Like have we just forgotten about active anti-stray measures that the city quietly does in the background or what. My city has a TnR program for cats but I genuinely have no idea if they do anything about dogs
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The US has way more animal control operations and pet shelters/rescues. There are more feral cats because they are harder to catch than dogs. There's probably more cultural importance placed on pets in the US than in a lot of other countries.