The Public Health: Implications Urban Dogs
The Public Health: Implications Urban Dogs
The Public Health: Implications Urban Dogs
Health problems due to the increasing urban population of pet and stray dogs are discussed.
Introduction
There is an ever growing awareness of the impact that urban pet and stray dogs have on the public's health and general well being. During the early 1970s, cities all over the United States held public hearings to review their animal control ordinances; articles documenting and qualifying the problem appeared in newspapers and the scientific literature.'-IO The 1974 Science Year Annual of World Book and the 1974 Nature Science Annual of Time-Life Books each had a major article on the urban dog problem. Bills have been introduced into the U.S. Senate and various state assemblies to provide funds or loans to municipalities for the establishment and/or construction of nonprofit spaying and neutering clinics. There is a growing body of literature debating the value of such clinics, 11-7 which is of interest to the medical community, for in at least 47 per cent of the cities and counties around the country animal control is the province of the health department."8 When the National League of Cities surveyed the country's mayors, they asked "What do citizens most frequently complain about?" Over 60 per cent of the mayors ranked "dogs and animal control problems" number one. 19 Although part of this awareness may be generated by the recent publicity itself, it is probable that there are, in addition, ecological changes taking place in urban dog populations that have increased the negative interactions between man and dog. All of these changes were caused by man; man has always been a major ecological component in dogs' evolution and survival. Dogs, in turn, have been part of man's ecology; for example, dogs aid many in facing the isolation and fears of urban life.2022 For others, dogs may be a source of anxiety and annoyance. Non-owners are for the
Dr. Beck is Director, Bureau of Animal Affairs, New York City Department of Health, New York, New York 10013. This article was accepted for publication August, 1975.
most part a disenfranchised majority with no social organization or industry to support their views. In contrast, dog owners have kennel clubs and pet food companies which have helped to make dogs a pervasive part of our society.
Sources of Data
The information used in this article is derived from the author's research on the ecology of urban dogs in Baltimore (1968 to 1972)' and St. Louis (1972 to 1974) and from a general review of the literature. This information has been synthesized in an attempt to explain the nature of the public health relationship that now exists between the urban dweller and the companion dog population.
Although many believe that there is a rise in the dog population, there is evidence from a 5 per cent sample of all households in two California counties that the pet dog population has been declining since 1968.26 Anecdotally, the number of dogs being shipped for sale has been declining. Thus, it is possible that the recent pet population increase has leveled off. Any increase in the dog population must lead to increased interactions between people and dogs; thus it is not surprising that diseases and injuries previously associated exclusively with occupations involving animal contact are occurring in the general population. As an example, leptospirosis is traditionally listed as a disease of animalrelated occupations, but in 1971, 63 per cent of the cases were associated with dogs, as compared with 32 per cent for the period 1966 to 1970; 59 per cent of the victims were less than 20 years old." In St. Louis City, over 40 per cent of dogs sampled at the pound had titers to leptospirosis, indicative of present or previous disease, and several human cases occurred in the area.28 Rabies is another example of a dog contact problem. Although it is widely believed that rabies in domestic dogs is under control, and most rabies occurs in wildlife, rabies adds greatly to the trauma and expense of dog bite injury.29 30 For instance, in Illinois, from 1967 to 1968, although 71 per cent of the 937 rabid animals reported were skunks, skunks were responsible for only 2 per cent of the cases requiring human vaccination. Conversely, only 4 per cent of the rabid animals were dogs, but dog bite was responsible for 58 per cent of the incidents requiring vaccination for possible exposure to rabies.3" In 1972, over 35,000 people received 475,758 doses of rabies vaccine in the U.S., predominantly as a result of being bitten by pet dogs.32 Increased dog-human contact may be expected to lead to an increased incidence of 'other diseases shared by man and dog, such as tick-borne typhus.33
in the evolution of the host-parasite relationship. A parasite's inability to complete its life cycle should not be equated with lack of infectivity. T. canis is the commonest parasite causing pathology in man, e.g., toxocariasis or visceral larva migrans.37-4 It is not possible to estimate prevalence of this disease in man, because it is usually undiagnosed, except when the larvae are observed in the eye. There are 403 cases described in the literature. However, as Brown46 notes " . . . the disease is too common for single case reports and is too rare for many large series." Almost all dogs are born with Toxocara infestation; indeed it is almost impossible to breed wormfree animals."7 In St. Louis, pound dogs under 1 year were nearly 30 per cent infected, although older groups averaged only 8 per cent infected. A younger animal population exposes humans to a greater risk of aberrant parasitism.
Age Structure
Nationally, the annual destruction rate of dogs is estimated to be at least 12 per cent.2 In Baltimore, over 15 per cent of the estimated dog population was destroyed by the pound annually, and automobile traffic killed nearly 10 per cent yearly.1 High mortality in a growing population means a lowering of the age distribution. In both Baltimore and St. Louis, the mean age of impounded dogs was only 2.3 years, with over 60 per cent of the population under 2 years of age. By contrast, the household dogs of Alameda County, California, in 1965 had a mean age of 4.4 years with only 43.6 per cent under 2 years.34 A young population is composed.mostly of new, nonimmune individuals. Young animals are more bite-prone33 and are more susceptible to disease and worm infestation.36 Dog worms are more than a veterinary problem. Many human parasites have animal counterparts, e.g., the roundworms Ascaris lumbricoides and Toxocara canis. These counterparts will infect man, although they may not complete their life cycles. Host specificity may not manifest itself until after infection is established, which is important
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bite rate is now about 500 bites per 100,000 people. It is estimated that far less than one-half of the bites are reported.1' 35 In St. Louis, 2 per cent of all 5- to 9-year-old children are bitten each year, and 37 per cent of the children bitten are bitten on the face.3 The same pattern is observed in New York.8 The bite injury problem can be expected to become more serious as people own larger dogs, especially guard dogs. Larger dogs require more meat, which may aggravate the sensitive political problems related to shortages of food. Competition with humans for food was apparently one reason for the destruction of dogs in China.4"
Social Structure
The social structure of dogs includes groups or packs. About one-half of all dogs observed on the streets are in the company of other dogs, 26 per cent in groups of two, 16 per cent in threes, and 5 per cent in fours, with sporadic groups of 20 or more.' About 2 per cent of all dog bites in St. Louis are attacks from more than one dog. Society's tolerance of dogs permits the proximity of people that may lead to a bite-especially in the case of larger animals. Socially facilitated behaviors, i.e., behaviors initiated by an individual dog and mimicked by the group, are common. Behaviors such as chasing and biting people, barking, and disrupting trash are therefore more of a health problem than would be the case if dogs were solitary, like cats. And, of course, disrupted trash encourages the breeding of houseflies and rats and greatly adds to the expense of trash removal.
1973.
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