Original Scientific Article
Visibly marked and microchipped lost dogs have a higher chance to find their owners in Belgrade
Marijana Vučinić
*
,
Katarina Radisavljević
,
Alexandra Hammond-Seaman
,
Vlatko Ilieski
Received: 03 July 2014
Received in revised form: 24 November 2014
Accepted: 30 November 2014
Available Online First: 03 December 2014
Published on: 15 March 2015
Correspondence: Marijana Vučinić, vucinicm@vet.bg.ac.rs
Abstract
The aim of the study was to analyse the demographic characteristics of lost and found dogs in Belgrade, Serbia. The demographic data concerning the 246 lost and 81 found dogs in the period of 5 consecutive years (January, 2009 to January 2014) was sampled and analysed from the data bases of four organizations for animal protection in Belgrade. The recovery rate of lost dogs and the chance to be reunited again with their owners was 33%. The highest recovery rate was estimated in the category of lost dogs with visible marks such as tags or collars (30%).The chi-square test disclosed that besides dogs with special visible marks, significantly more females, light colour coated, friendly/sociable and neutered dogs were reunited with their owners (P<0.0001).
Keywords: demographic characteristics, dog, found, lost
References
8. McConnell R. A, Brown M. C, Shoda M. T, Stayton E. L, Colleen E. M, Friends with benefits:On the positive consequences of pet ownershipJ Pers Soc Psychol 2011; 101: 1239-1252. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024506. PMid:21728449
10. Bennett C. P, Rohlf I. V, Owner-companion dog interactions:Relationships between demographic variables, potentially problematic behaviours, training engagement and shared activitiesAppl Anim Behav Sci 2007; 102: 65-84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2006.03.009.
11. Arhant C, Bubna-Littitz H, Bartels A, Futschik A, Troxler J, Behaviour of smaller and larger dogs:Effects of training methods, inconsistency of owner behaviour and level of engagement in activities with the dogAppl Anim Behav Sci 2010; 123: 131-142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2010.01.003.
13. Lord K. L, Ingwersen W, Gray L. J, Wintz J. D, Characterization of animals with microchips entering animal sheltersJ Am Vet Med Assoc 2009; 235: 160-167.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2460/javma.235.2.160. PMid:19601734
15. Weiss E, Slater M, Lord L, Retention of provided identification for dogs and cats seen in veterinary clinics and adopted from shelters in Oklahoma City, OK, USAPrev Vet Med 2011; 101: 301-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2011.05.008. PMid:21704398
17. Houpt K.A, Goodwin D, Uchida Y, Baranyiová E, Fatjó J, Kakuma Y, Proceedings of a workshop to identify dog welfare issues in the US, Japan, Czech Republic, Spain and the UKAppl. Anim Behav Sci 2007; 106: 221-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.01.005.
18. Lord L. K, Wittum E. T, Ferketich K. A, Funk A. J, Rajala-Schultz J. P, Search and identification methods that owners use to find a lost dogJ Am Vet Med Assoc 2007; 230: 211-216. http://dx.doi.org/10.2460/javma.230.2.211. PMid:17223753
19. Lord L, Wittum E. T, Ferketich K. A, Funk A. J, Rajala-Schultz J. P, Search methods that people use to find owners of lost petsJ Am Vet Med Assoc 2007; 230: 1835-1840.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2460/javma.230.12.1835. PMid:17571985
20. Weiss E, Slater M, Lord L, Frequency of lost dogs and cats in the United States and the methods used to locate themAnimals 2012; 2: 301-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani2020301.
22. Slater R. M, Di Nardo A, Pediconi O, Dalla Villa P, Candeloro L, Alessandrini B, Del Papa S, Cat and dog ownership and management patterns in central ItalyPrev Vet Med 2008; 85: 267-294. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2008.02.001. PMid:18374434
25. Cannas S, Rampini F, Levi D, Costa ED, Talamonti Z, Minero M, Palestrini C, Shelter dogs and their destiny. A retrospective analysis to identify predictive factors - a pilot studyMac Vet Rev 2014; 37: 151-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.14432/j.macvetrev.2014.07.018.
26. Leonard A, The plight of “Big black dogs” in American animal shelters:Color-based canine discriminationPap Kroeber Anthropol Soc 2011; 99: 168-183.
27. Goleman M, Drozd L, Karpinski M, Czyzowski P, Black dog syndrome in animal sheltersMed Weter 2014; 70: 122-127.
Copyright
© 2015 Vučinić M. This is an open-access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declared that they have no potential conflict of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
Citation Information
Macedonian Veterinary Review. Volume 38, Issue 1, Pages 79-83, p-ISSN 1409-7621, e-ISSN 1857-7415, DOI: 10.14432/j.macvetrev.2014.12.035, 2015