Dogs in public spaces of Buenos Aires, Argentina: Exploring patterns of the abundance of dogs, the canine faecal contamination, the behaviour of people with dogs, and its relationships with demographic/economic variables

Abstract

The level of faecal contamination in urban public spaces depends on the behaviour of dogs's owners as well as on dog abundance. The aims of the present study were to explore patterns of the relative abundance of dogs, the canine faecal contamination, the behaviour of owners and dog walkers towards their pets, and their relationship with human demographic/economic variables in Buenos Aires city. We carried out a cross sectional study that included 67 randomly selected sampling sites (street corners). Each sampling site was evaluated one only time by two trained students under our supervision and all sighted dogs between 7 and 11 a.m. in both sidewalks of each corner were counted (spring 2013, 23 days of sampling). Data about dogs and people were obtained by using a standardized questionnaire and by direct observation. Feces censuses in 242 sidewalks were carried out. The sidewalks were randomly selected and its characteristics were registered (i.e. number of shops, trees). GIS was loaded with the city´s cartography and the values for nine variables used as demographic/economic indicators were obtained disaggregated by demographic units (National Census). Generalized linear models were used to identify the environmental and demographic variables related to the number of dogs sighted per site and feces per sidewalk. Explanatory variables per site included human density, number of inhabitants, households, precarious housing, proportion of children, maximum educational level and drinking water provision. For the sidewalks number of shops, trees, tree pits, broken sectors and total length were added. Also, variables regarding dog's owners and dog walkers behaviour were compared. A total of 1193 dog's owners, 234 dog walkers and 2835 dogs were sighted. The number of observed pets and that of people sighted with dogs showed a positive relationship with the economic level and the human density. The stool number per sidewalk increased with the higher number of broken sectors, higher number of tree pits per meter of sidewalk and the lower number of shops on it. The stool number per sidewalk was lower when 40% or more people with dogs carried waste bag to clean dogs’ feces. Our results indicate that dog walkers compared to owners showed different behavioural patterns towards the pets (bag to remove dog's fouling, leash use, use of the green spaces, etc).