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Abstract

In Nigeria, there has been an increasing trend towards establishing puppy mills for commercial breeding of exotic dogs. This study determined gastrointestinal parasites associated with exotic dogs of the existing puppy mills in Jos Metropolis Nigeria. A total of 150 dogs' fresh feacal samples were collected from 25 different puppy mills and examined using formol ether and floatation concentration techniques. Data on risks factors variables of dogs' age, number of dogs per kernel kennel type, nature of food and history of antiparasitic drugs usage were collected from the breeders using predesigned questionnaire. The result revealed an overall prevalence of 71.33% intestinal parasitic burden among the dogs. Chi square (χ2) analysis showed association (p< 0.05) between breeds of dogs and occurrence of parasites. The gastrointestinal parasites associated were most prevalent dogs in Neapolitan mastiff (86.36%) followed by Rottweiler (75.70%) and German Shepherd (57.14%) was the least infected Predominantly, a total of seven (7) species of intestinal parasites; Ancylostoma caninum (28.00%) Dipylidium caninum (23.33%), Toxocara canis (14.00%), Trichuris vulpis (11.33%), Taenia sp. (5.33%) Giardia sp. (7.33%) and Coccidia sp. (5.33%) were identified. Among different gastrointestinal parasitic infections, occurrence of Ancylostoma caninum (28.00%) was highest, followed by Dipylidium caninum (23.33%). Multiple parasitic infections among positive dogs sampled were observed, however, risk factors variables did not (p > 0.05) affect parasitic infection. Age based gastrointestinal parasitic infection peak (77.78%) was reported among 7 9 months old and decreased with ages of dogs The result showed no significant difference in prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites among age groups of the dogs (χ2 = 2.616, d.f. = 5, P = 0.624). This trend implies that puppies of younger age groups had higher prevalence and tendency for infection with gastrointestinal parasites than their older counterparts.This study provides baseline data on the spectrum of intestinal parasitic infection of exotic dogs in commercial puppy mills in Jos-Nigeria. Therefore, the phenomenon could represent an important health threat and needs to be regulated, so that breeders adhere to hygiene practices and veterinary guidelines. This will serve as an approach to reduce the tendency of Academic Journal of Life Sciences 16 increasing intestinal parasitic burden of local dogs as well as eliminate emergent zoonotic intestinal parasites in the dogs.