Search Results (33)

This study examines how visual features and green space morphology jointly shape restorative perception in dog-friendly urban green spaces using a data-driven analytical framework. A self-constructed dataset integrating street-view imagery, landscape element composition, and morphological metrics was developed to quantify visual entropy, visual richness, and spatial structure. Ten dimensions of visual perception were modeled using an XGBoost framework optimized with a genetic algorithm, achieving high predictive performance (R² = 0.827–0.989). Streetscape analysis revealed relatively stable visual entropy but pronounced heterogeneity in visual richness, reflecting variability in color, form, and spatial layering. Element-level decomposition showed the visual dominance of natural components, particularly trees, sky, and grass. Piecewise linear regression further identified threshold-dependent and dimension-specific effects of green space proportion, fragmentation, patch size, connectivity, aggregation, and shape complexity. Moderate fragmentation and aggregation enhanced perceived complexity and stimulation, whereas excessive shape complexity reduced most restorative responses. Full article

This article examines how Turkey’s 2024 amendment to the Animal Protection Law reshapes volunteer caregiving for free-roaming dogs in Istanbul by reconfiguring the practical conditions under which care is sought, coordinated, and sustained. Drawing on 43 in-depth interviews and five months of fieldwork (1 July–30 November 2025), this study combines constructivist grounded theory with reflexive thematic analysis to trace how legal change is encountered through everyday governance interfaces and how these encounters reorganize caregivers’ routines, capacities, and moral worlds. The analysis yields four interlocking findings. First, caregivers describe a temporality of “living in pre-loss,” in which anticipated removal, disappearance, and uncertain outcomes generate chronic vigilance, anticipatory grief, and ambiguous loss without closure. Second, caregiving is increasingly recalibrated as risk management: commitments persist, but intervention narrows through heightened exposure to complaints, reputational scrutiny, and fears that help-seeking may backfire. Third, institutional pathways—hotlines, shelter intake, and municipal responses—are experienced as discretionary and opaque, producing a fluctuating threshold between assistance and harm that conditions whether caregivers engage official systems at all. Fourth, this study identifies a recurring veterinary bottleneck at the street–clinic–recovery handover, where limited short-term holding capacity stalls treatment trajectories and displaces recovery labor into precarious domestic and informal spaces. Together, these findings argue that caregiver well-being is not ancillary to animal welfare governance but constitutive of it. It shapes the continuity of monitoring, the timeliness of intervention, and the everyday mediation through which coexistence is maintained under intensified legal and political pressure. Full article

This article examines how veterinarians in Istanbul experience and navigate the ethical, emotional, and institutional complexities of performing euthanasia on dogs, with particular attention to the differences between companion and street dogs. Drawing on 29 in-depth interviews with private practice veterinarians in Istanbul, this study employs qualitative analysis using the NVivo 12 Plus software and reflexive thematic analysis to identify key patterns in moral reasoning, emotional labor, and clinical decision making. The findings indicate that euthanasia of companion dogs is often framed through shared decision making with guardians, emotional preparation, and post-procedural grief rituals. While still emotionally taxing, these cases are supported by relational presence and mutual acknowledgment. In contrast, euthanasia of street dogs frequently occurs in the absence of legal ownership, institutional accountability, or consistent caregiving, leaving veterinarians to bear the full moral and emotional weight of the decision. Participants described these cases as ethically distinct, marked by relational solitude, clinical ambiguity, and heightened moral distress. Six key themes that reveal how euthanasia becomes a site of both care and conflict when structural support is lacking are identified in this study, including emotional burden, ethical strain, and resistance to routinized killing. By foregrounding the roles of institutional absence and relational asymmetry in shaping end-of-life decisions, this study contributes to empirical veterinary ethics and calls for more contextually attuned ethical frameworks, particularly in urban settings with large populations of street dogs and culturally entrenched practices of collective guardianship and caregiving. Full article

Urban green spaces (UGSs) play a pivotal role in sustaining the livelihoods of urban dwellers. This study sought to explore the impact of UGSs on livelihoods in Bulawayo and Johannesburg cities. A mixed-methods approach was used to develop a nuanced understanding of the nexus between UGSs and the livelihoods of the residents. A questionnaire survey (n = 658) with 329 participants from each city and 20 interviews were used to gather and generate data. Twelve types of UGSs were identified, with a relatively large proportion of the participants recognizing informal recreational areas as the common type of urban green space (UGS) in both cities. Domestic gardens, cemeteries, parks, woodlands, institutional green spaces, street trees, wastelands, commonages, and green roofs were other green spaces in both cities. Economically, job opportunities emerged in areas such as selling wares, photography, and the collection of firewood and wild fruits for sale. Likewise, farming activities and property values increased. Socially, they were valuable recreation and leisure spots for picnicking, dog walking, dating escapades, mental and spiritual wellness as well as education. Environmentally, UGSs were special in terms of medicinal provisions and aesthetics. However, urbanization and encroachment are undermining the extent of livelihood benefits. Therefore, it is imperative to revitalize UGSs by instituting robust partnerships and collaboration between government agencies, mobilize resources and expertise, value addition to existing UGSs, rigorous education to promote better appreciation, inclusion of the locals in the design process so that green spaces meet their needs and priorities, and establishing effective maintenance and management systems that ensure sustainability of UGSs. Full article

Between 2016 and 2023, over 400,000 dogs in Greater Bangkok, Thailand, were sterilised and vaccinated against rabies through a Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (CNVR) programme. CNVR is practiced in many countries to humanely and effectively manage free-roaming dog populations, and to mitigate canine and human rabies risks. Residents were surveyed about their experiences, attitudes, and behaviours towards free-roaming dogs. Responses were evaluated in relation to respondents’ dog ownership status and the CNVR intensity within their local administrative area (0, 1, 2, or 3 CNVR rounds). The results show an overall positive effect of CNVR. A dose-dependent CNVR effect was observed with residents’ perceptions of declines in free-roaming dog populations and puppies born in their community, as well as in being “troubled” by free-roaming dogs now versus before the intervention. Residents living in areas with the highest levels of CNVR also had lower odds of reporting a dog bite. Some measures, including other current attitudes and behaviours towards free-roaming dogs, did not exhibit this dose-dependent effect. Dog owners showed higher levels of tolerance and care for street dogs than non-owners. The results suggest that owned dogs contributed substantially to the roaming dog population and must be considered in management efforts. CNVR appears to have delivered meaningful benefits to Greater Bangkok residents, and the majority reported sterilisation as their preferred management approach. Full article

Greater Bangkok, Thailand, has large numbers of both owned and free-roaming dogs, two populations that intersect and overlap in complex and nuanced ways. A more robust understanding of owned dog populations is, therefore, important not only in supporting the welfare of owned dogs but also in managing free-roaming dog populations and protecting human health through the prevention of rabies transmission. Over 3200 residents were surveyed to explore the numbers and demographics of owned dogs in Greater Bangkok, plus owners’ attitudes and reported behaviours related to their dogs; the acquisition and loss of owned dogs; and caretaking by owners (confinement practices, sterilisation, rabies vaccination, and other veterinary care). The study also considered dog owners’ practices in relation to a Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (CNVR) programme designed to humanely manage dog populations and vaccinate dogs against rabies. Survey results indicate that there are approximately 1.3 million owned dogs in Greater Bangkok. Key findings include high reported rabies vaccination among owned dogs (84% in the past year). Fifty-three percent of owned dogs in the sample were reported to be sterilised, 66% were allowed to roam, and 46% of dogs acquired into households were adopted from the street. The CNVR programme appeared to impact the care and keeping of owned dogs in the community, as it was associated with greater confinement and sterilisation levels. Full article

Canine demodicosis is a contagious skin disease caused by the over-proliferation of Demodex mites in the host’s hair follicles. This study examines the prevalence, clinical signs, and hematological changes associated with demodicosis in street dogs of Rupandehi, Nepal. Between August 2023 and January 2024, 100 skin scrapings were collected from each street dog presenting dermatological symptoms. The samples, treated with 10% KOH and microscopically examined, revealed a 21% positivity rate for demodicosis, with all cases involving Demodex canis. The infection predominantly affected young puppies (37.5%), females (21.6%), mixed breeds (33.3%), and dogs with above-ideal body conditions (25%). There was no significant association between infection and variables such as age, gender, breed, or nutritional status. Clinically, all affected dogs exhibited alopecia, primarily on the legs. Hematological assessments indicated significant increases in neutrophils and eosinophils and a notable decrease in mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration and lymphocytes among infected dogs (p < 0.05). This study underscores the importance of vigilant monitoring and comprehensive diagnostic practices in effectively managing and treating canine demodicosis, especially in street dogs. Full article

During 2018, three academics employed what they referred to as “reflective ethnography” to examine the hypothesis that many disciplines (e.g., sociology, educational philosophy, and critical race theory) are motivated by extreme ideologies, as opposed to generating knowledge. The authors published, or had accepted, seven “hoax” articles in a number of peer-reviewed journals. When the story broke in the Wall Street Journal, the authors stated that the articles advocated a number of ludicrous, inhumane, and appalling ideas. For example, one argued that men should be trained like dogs with shock collars. Their acceptance for publication was therefore taken as evidence for the kind of ideas that many academic disciplines will advocate. In the present article, I will show that the central aspects of the hoax articles do not match with how they were later described by the hoax authors and many other commentators (e.g., journalists). Despite the vast amount of media coverage, this has (virtually) gone unnoticed. I will suggest that the widely accepted narrative of the so-called Grievance Studies affair is incorrect. Full article

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of Giardia lamblia infection and identify associated risk factors at both individual and community levels in a pediatric population in different agroecological zones of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to December 2022. Using stratified sampling, 1026 households were recruited from nine agroecological zones. Stool samples were collected from 1026 children up to the age of five years and processed for detection of Giardia using a commercial ELISA kit. Data on potential risk factors were collected using a pre-structured questionnaire. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors associated with giardiasis. Results: The study found that the prevalence of giardiasis in the study area was 3.31%. Children aged 13–24 months were found to be at higher risk for giardiasis. Illiterate mothers and fathers attending daycare institutions/kindergartens, mothers not practicing hand washing during critical times, households with companion animals, and homes where stray dogs/cats enter were identified as predictors of giardiasis at the individual level. Children living in sub-mountain valleys use un-piped water, inadequate domestic water storage vessels, drink un-boiled or unfiltered water, live near rubbish heaps or un-paved streets/pathways, and have unimproved latrine facilities were identified as risk factors of giardiasis at the community level. Conclusions: The study highlights the need for integrated intervention approaches at both individual and community levels to reduce the incidence of giardiasis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Interventions aimed at promoting behavioral change and providing safe and adequate water sources, combined with individual-level interventions such as hand washing and awareness of giardiasis prevention methods, would be critical to addressing this health concern. Inter-sectoral collaboration between the health sector and other sectors would also be necessary to achieve meaningful progress in reducing the incidence of giardiasis in resource-limited areas. Full article

A high-intensity catch, neuter, vaccinate and return (CNVR) intervention was used over 5 years to manage the free-roaming dog population of Greater Bangkok, using nearly 300,000 CNVR operations across six provinces. An evaluation was conducted using multiple methods to assess the impact of this intervention, including clinical data, an observational street survey, an online attitude survey and reported cases of dog rabies confirmed with laboratory testing. The evaluation found evidence of a reduction in free-roaming dog density over time (24.7% reduction over 5 years), a reduction in dog rabies cases (average reduction of 5.7% rabies cases per month) and an improvement in dog–human relationships (a 39% increase per year in free-roaming dogs with visible signs of ownership or care and a perception of less trouble with free-roaming dogs in districts benefiting from CNVR). The CNVR intervention appears to have been effective at reducing the current free-roaming dog population and minimizing one future source of free-roaming dogs by limiting breeding of dogs accessible on the streets. However, there is evidence that other sources of free-roaming dogs exist, presumed to be predominately abandoned or lost owned dogs that were previously inaccessible to the CNVR intervention because they were ordinarily confined or living outside the project area. Hence, fully effective dog population management will require further interventions targeting owned dogs in addition to this CNVR effort. Full article

The modern world faces serious challenges associated with the presence of stray dogs on the streets, especially in urban areas. Vardar Planning Region in North Macedonia, which consists of nine municipalities, experiences such challenges. According to current reports, the number of stray dogs on the streets of cities in this region has increased, which has resulted in an increase in the number of dog attacks on residents. As the existing capacities are small in the registered shelters, we considered the possibility of building a new shelter for stray dogs to meet the needs of this region. The goal of our paper is the evaluation of the financial and socio-economic justifications for the construction of a shelter for stray dogs in the Vardar Planning Region (VPR). The results of the financial justification analysis show that the project does not provide satisfactory financial results. Namely, the Financial Net Present Value (FNPV) is negative, with a value of EUR 75,291. The Financial Internal Rate of Return (FIRR) is 0.57%, lower than the discount rate, which is not acceptable for a private investor. The Financial Benefit–Cost Ratio (FB/CR) of this project is 0.925, suggesting that the total discounted costs are greater than the total discounted revenues. On the other hand, the expected socio-economic benefits from this project are multifaceted, including savings in stray dog bite costs, savings in the cost of traffic accidents caused by stray dogs, and savings in the treatment of diseases caused by stray dogs. The results of the economic analysis show that this investment has full socio-economic justification and that it should be implemented. The Economic Net Present Value (ENPV) is positive and amounts to EUR 789,916. The Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) is 25.94% and the Economic Benefit–Cost Ratio (EB/CR) amounts to 1.90, i.e., greater than 1. The results of the sensitivity analysis also confirm the justification for the realization of this project. Full article

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. Dog sterilisation programmes, particularly those operating at a large-scale, often face a variety of challenges including limited resources, staffing, and less-than-ideal facilities. Recordkeeping is often a challenge as well, which can complicate the return of a sterilised dog to their location of capture. Street dogs are territorial, and the return of a dog to an incorrect location is fraught with various welfare issues, as well as an increased risk of postoperative complications, including death. Humane Society International developed a mobile phone-based application called ‘HSIApps’ drawing on years of field experience and data collection in street dog location recording, as well as clinical and postoperative treatment. HSIApps facilitates the return of dogs back to their exact captured location, which ensures dog welfare, and generates reports of a variety of useful data variables to maximise the efficacy and reliability of sterilisation programmes. Full article

The Dredged Material Decision Tool (DMDT) was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to allow project managers, stakeholders, and communities to quantify environmental, economic, and social considerations of using dredged material for beneficial purposes. Dredged material may be disposed in a confined disposal facility (CDF); however, this option is unfavorable because of the finite capacity problems these facilities pose. A more sustainable option is to use dredged materials beneficially such as construction material, for habitat restoration, or for brownfield remediation projects. This study demonstrates the applicability of the DMDT to three relevant candidate projects: (1) Dog Beach, Greenwood, and Lee Street Beaches (Evanston, IL, USA); (2) New York-New Jersey Harbor (New York/New Jersey); and (3) Poplar Island (Chesapeake Bay). The DMDT requires the project information and then completion of worksheets with each criteria (biophysical environment, economic, governance, social, and built environment) ranked, weighed, and scored. The DMDT is applied for all potential alternatives and the results are then analyzed to select the best beneficial reuse alternative. It was found that for the beaches in Evanston, the most beneficial option was on-beach placement with hydraulic dredging. The best option for the New Jersey Harbor was found to be using for brownfield and landfill remediation. The best option for Poplar Island was the lateral and vertical expansion of 50% uplands and 50% wetlands. Overall, DMDT is found to be a valuable tool to facilitate the evaluation of multi-criteria based on the project-specific data and help select the best beneficial use alternative for the dredged material. Full article

Street dogs are common in southern and eastern parts of Europe. They are often adopted by people living in North European countries, including Denmark. However, these dogs may experience difficulties adjusting to their new life as companion animals, and this may in turn lead to behavioural problems and complications for owners. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate whether former street (FS) dogs display a higher degree of behavioural problems than dogs reared in Denmark (RD). Two questionnaires were developed. One was distributed to Danish dog owners and resulted in 3020 useful answers. FS dogs were found to display 9 of the 45 listed behaviours more often than RD dogs. All of these behaviours were related to fear, aggression and stress. The second questionnaire was distributed to Danish veterinarians working in small animal practices and resulted in 173 useful answers. The most commonly reported behavioural problems were fear of humans, stress and problems when the dog was left at home alone. The extent of the behavioural problems reported by the veterinarians was much greater than that reported by the dog owners which, at least partly, may be due to fear-induced reactions of the dogs when handled at the veterinary clinic. Full article

Physical activity is essential for children’s healthy development, yet COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions such as school closures and staying at home, playground closures, and the cancelling of organised community sport have dramatically altered children’s opportunities to be physically active. This study describes changes in levels of physical activity and screen time from February 2020 (i.e., before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in Western Australia) to May 2020 (i.e., when COVID-19 restrictions were in place). Parents of children aged 5 to 9 years from Western Australia were eligible to participate and recruited through convenience sampling. An online survey instrument that included validated measures of their children’s physical activity (unstructured, organized, home-based, indoor/outdoor active play, dog play/walking), sociodemographic, and other potential confounders was administered to parents. Paired t-tests and mixed ANOVA models assessed changes in physical activity outcomes. The analytic sample comprised parents of 157 children who were 6.9 years of age (SD = 1.7) on average. Overall, weekly minutes of total physical activity (PA) did not change from before to during COVID-19. However, frequency and duration (total and home-based) of unstructured physical activity significantly increased. Outdoor play in the yard or street around the house, outdoor play in the park or playground or outdoor recreation area, and active indoor play at home all significantly increased. Frequency and total duration of organised physical activity significantly declined during COVID-19 distancing. During Western Australian COVID-19 restrictions, there was an increase in young children’s unstructured physical activity and outdoor play and a decrease in organised physical activity. It remains to be seen whether children’s increased physical activity has been sustained with the easing of physical distancing restrictions. Full article