Owned-Dog Demographics, Ownership Dynamics, and Attitudes across Three States of India.

This paper presents the demographics, dynamics, and attitudes of dog ownership across three states in India. The background of this research is set against the increasing significance of pet ownership in urban Indian contexts, with a particular focus on understanding the variations in dog-ownership patterns and their implications for public health and animal welfare. We employed a survey-based approach, gathering quantitative survey data from dog owners ( = 563) and non-dog-owners ( = 9282) across different socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds in seven Indian settlements.

Technology for Improving Street Dog Welfare and Capturing Data in Digital Format during Street Dog Sterilisation Programmes.

Street dogs survive on food handouts provided by individuals, or the wider community yet typically receive limited to no veterinary care. They can also carry a variety of zoonotic diseases such as rabies, posing a significant risk to human and dog population health. Dog sterilisation is one of the most humane and effective methods available to control street dog populations.

Recurrent horizontal transfer identifies mitochondrial positive selection in a transmissible cancer.

Autonomous replication and segregation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) creates the potential for evolutionary conflict driven by emergence of haplotypes under positive selection for 'selfish' traits, such as replicative advantage. However, few cases of this phenomenon arising within natural populations have been described. Here, we survey the frequency of mtDNA horizontal transfer within the canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), a contagious cancer clone that occasionally acquires mtDNA from its hosts.

Dog Transport and Infectious Disease Risk: An International Perspective.

International canine transport programs are gaining popularity, moving dogs from limited-resourced facilities to those with an increased capacity to provide better animal care and outcomes. For many animals, transport is a lifesaving measure, but is not without risk. The long-distance movement of dogs can facilitate disease spread, particularly when exporting agencies are located in rabies-endemic areas and lack staff trained in infectious disease control.

Animal shelters: managing heartworms in resource-scarce environments.

Animal shelters must frequently make difficult decisions regarding the allocation of limited resources to appropriately care for the millions of dogs and cats that enter their doors annually. Insufficient staffing, expertise, and guidance on heartworm management in animal shelters creates significant confusion on how these facilities should appropriately address heartworm infection in dogs and cats. The American Heartworm Society (AHS) issues comprehensive guidelines for the diagnosis, prevention, and management of heartworm infection in pets, but shelters are often unable to fully comply with these guidelines due to resource constraints.