Size, spatial and household distribution, and rabies vaccination coverage of the Brazilian owned‐dog population

Abstract

Dog rabies and human rabies transmitted by dogs can be prevented through adequate dog vaccination coverage. For surveillance purposes, this coverage must be calculated using accurate population size estimates to avoid misleading conclusions. We used data from a Brazilian national survey comprising 64,348 households, to calculate point estimates and confidence intervals of the size, household density, and rabies vaccination coverage of the owned‐dog population in Brazilian federative units. We also evaluated the precision of owned‐dog population size estimates, based on the extrapolation among different areas, of the mean number of dogs per household and the human/dog ratio. The estimated owned‐dog population size in Brazil was 52,198,324 (95% CI = 51,028,583–53,368,066) and the dog vaccination coverage was 80.09% (95% CI = 79.09%–81.09%). Both estimates had marked variation across Brazilian federative units and urban/rural strata. Only two of the 27 federative units had a confidence interval in rural vaccination coverage above 70% and six did not pass this threshold in their urban stratum. For the first time, we reported probabilistic estimates for an entire country and its main administrative areas. The estimated coverage for the country was high because the most populated federative unit also had high coverage. The mean number of dogs per household and the human/dog ratio were useful as survey estimates to characterize owned‐dog density. However, the simple extrapolation of these parameters resulted in estimates of owned‐dog population sizes with large errors (up to 254%) that must be interpreted with caution to avoid misleading conclusions. To evaluate the dog population size, we recommend the use of probabilistic sampling designs instead of simple human/dog ratio extrapolations, and the inclusion of animal‐related questions in censuses and national surveys to obtain reliable estimates to support improvements in animal and human health.

Size, demography, ownership profiles, and identification rate of the owned dog population in central Italy

“…In contrast, due to a high human density, the HDR (9.0) was the highest (i. e. a relative low number of dogs) if compared with what is reported worldwide (in some cases calculated by the authors from data present in published studies). A HDR ranging from 3 to 5 was found in Brazil, Mexico and in an Italian Province close to Rome [17,27,29]. A HDR from 5.4 to 5.8 was reported in 3 studies performed in northern Italy [28,31,32] while a score close to 6.0 in UK and in Guatemala [16,30].…”

“…In the present study, the sex ratio favoured male dogs. This diversity is a constant in all similar studies worldwide [17,27,29,31,32]. Dog owners may believe that male dogs are preferable because they do not produce unwanted puppies, do not attract free roaming dogs during oestrus and can serve as guard dogs, especially those living in rural areas [30].…”

“…The human to dog ratio, the percentage of HHs owning a dog, the mean dog per HH, the number of dogs per km 2 are frequently used, together with capture-recapture or Bayesian PLOS ONE methods to infer the absolute population size [26]. In the present studies, all the possible indices were calculated and presented to enhance the precision of the estimates [27] and to help researchers to compare results with other studies worldwide. Dogs are popular in Italy and the findings of the present study confirmed an extensive presence of the dog among human population.…”

One Health of Peripheries: Biopolitics, Social Determination, and Field of Praxis

“…Violence is a cause of morbidity and mortality, and among the approaches to address its complexity, it is the prevention of violence against animals. Conviviality with companion animals is growing, and in some countries, there are more dogs and cats than children in households ( 68 , 69 ). In multispecies homes, animals enter into family dynamics and can be victims of domestic violence.…”

Dog-related activities and human well-being in Brazilian dog owners: A framework and cross-cultural comparison with a British study

“…1 However, most studies appear to involve Caucasian participants from Europe, North America and Australia, and there is a lack of comparative work to establish if the effects have cross-cultural consistency. Despite an estimated pet dog population of more than 52 million animals in Brazil (the second largest in the world 2 ), this demographic is underrepresented in the investigations of dog ownership and human well-being. 3 A growing body of research appears to associate pet ownership in general with improvement in human health, often referred to as the 'Pet Effect', 4,5 including increased life satisfaction, 6 positive emotions and a sense of purpose, 7 self-esteem, 8,9 physical fitness, 9 decreased chance of dying one year after a heart attack 10 and lower blood pressure, 11 along with reduced negative emotions, 9,12,13 depression 14 and a reduction in medical visits.…”