Paws for progress - Dog Population Management for safe and healthy cities

Millions of people in lower- and middle-income countries share their urban community with dogs that are roaming free. This coexistence is often unmanaged and can result in negative impacts both for people and dogs, including road traffic accidents, noise and environmental pollution, dog bites, rabies transmission, and suffering and high mortality of dogs. But dogs are also valued for their companionship and practical roles such as watch dogs within communities. As a domesticated species that has evolved in our company for thousands of years, dogs hold an almost unique position in our human affection. In this event, our panellists from across the continents will share the daily reality and impact of living with free roaming dog populations in their urban spaces and how they work with partners on dog population management initiatives to create harmonious coexistence resulting in safe and healthy urban communities. They will explore how this work with dogs, their owners and local communities impacts on human health, public safety, citizens’ perceptions and animal welfare. The panel discussion that follows will explore the challenges to implementation and the solutions they discovered to overcome these barriers; this will include both prepared points for discussion and invited questions from the audience. The aim of our panel is to showcase best practice dog population management in urban centres, describe the important contribution of this work to urban safety and human health and to offer insights from a variety of locations and contexts.