IZSAM at the second international conference on the control of the dog populations

From the 3rd to the 5th of March the second international conference on the management of the dog populations was held in Istanbul, Turkey. The event was organized by the International Companion Animal Management Coalition (ICAM) and supported by the EU delegation in Turkey, by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), by the World Veterinary Association (WVA) and by the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE). Government officials, researchers, members of important NGOs and professionals from all continents involved at various levels in the fight against stray dogs and in the control of rabies participated in the event.

The experts presented their experiences in the field proposing efficient strategies to reduce and control the stray dog populations, to reduce its negative impact on public health and at the same time to protect the welfare of free-roaming and stray animals;   they proposed technically sustainable and ethically acceptable alternatives to indiscriminate slaughter, which often is seen as the only solution for a problem having in fact social origins. Doctor Shanis Barnard and Stefano Messori of IZSAM presented the results of the different projects involving the Human-Animal Relationship and animal welfare Laboratory and other departments of the Institute.

Shanis Barnard presented two works: the first one was about the responsible ownership of dogs in the municipalities of Pescara and Isernia, and an innovative protocol for the assessment of welfare of dogs, who are long-period patients and are housed at shelters. The protocol was developed by using "animal based" measures and allows therefore the objective evaluation of the welfare conditions of animals and is not limited by the different types of facilities where they are housed, allowing in fact to compare different realities.

Stefano Messori presented the results of a recently concluded study aiming at evaluating the efficiency of the control strategies of the stray dog populations which had been implemented by the Veterinary Services of the Local Health Units (ASL) and which had the objective to identify the problems underlying the phenomenon of stray animals, as well as to determine the advantages of the implemented plans in order to identify new strategies capable of improving the situation.