There are two problems with stray dogs: 1. they might be aggresive and when they are the cost is huge, going to deaths of people 2. without control, the usual case, they tend to have a growing population.

That's why the number of dogs on the streets must be reduced to zero to solve both problems. If you solve only the second problem, the growing population you still might have for a period of time the first problem, which might be sufficient for people to ask for drastic solutions.

So, what is the perfect solution?

slug: article7 date: 2012-01-30 16:50:27 title: author: raduraducu.popovici@gmail.com tags: type: answer toslug: article3 —

This is a very sensitive subject because it borders on animal cruelty. Let's classify the solutions by impact on the population, cost and time to desired result:

Solution 1: Eliminate all the strays

  • impact - major / mostly negative; cost - moderate / high; time to desired result - minimal

The impact on the population is major, this is (almost) the worst scenario of animal cruelty, you will most likely have protests against this decision. But those protests won't be from people who were scared for life by a stray dog, or for ones that lost a family member or a child because of this. Urged by a spirit of revenge they will support this decision because "the faster you get rid of them, the better". The cost is moderate / high, assuming it will be done properly and the animals will not suffer and will be disposed of accordingly. The results will be seen from the first week, so the time to desired result is minimal.

Solution 2: Neuter all the strays

  • impact - low / medium / positive; cost - low / medium; time to desired result - very long

The majority of the population already sees this as the best solution to this problem so it will not protest, it will most likely be seen as "the right thing to do". The cost may be the lowest of these solution since it only takes a routine operation and a tag. The problem is with the time to the desired result which could take years (assuming that all dogs have been neutered). Take into account that you have to neuter many times more dogs than the growth rate to make a visible impact. This is why this solution fails most of the time.

Solution 3: A way to put them to good use (Mostly idealistic)

  • impact, cost, time: vary on idea

One idea would be to train them as police dogs, firemen dogs, border patrol dogs. (Not sure if plausible for adult dogs). It would clean the streets and help fight crime. The smaller dogs could sniff for drugs or find people in a fire incident or avalanche. They would be well taken care of, given a home and a meaning.

Another idea would be to offer a (monthly) monetary incentive to those families that adopt them as a pet and take good care of them. This would mean that somebody would have to check on the pets' well being. (More jobs :D) If anything else pops up, I'll be sure to post it.

The question remains: If this problem is solved... Will stray cats become a problem?

To sum up: The best solution is the one you see through!!!

Enforcing / Killing / Neutering only half the dogs will work if it's the entire male half, or the female one. Otherwise, they will keep breeding.

slug: article15 date: 2012-02-04 20:28:23 title: author: raisercostinraisercostin@gmail.com tags: type: answer toslug: article3 —

Why killing is not a solution is justified here: http://www.haps-eth.org.et/Background_and_justification.htm In short: If this solution is chosen, the number of killed dogs raise by year, because the remaining ones, have a bigger reproductive efficiency, due to the lack of concurrency.

Anyway they suggest a solution ABC(Animal Birth Control) program that is based on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap-Neuter-Return

slug: article43 date: 2013-11-14 11:28:43 title: author: FlorinPanaitescuflorin.panaitescu@gmail.com tags: type: answer toslug: article3 —

The problem has a lot to do with the defenders of animals' rights (NGOs who are funded with huge amounts of money to do nothing). They should be annihilated first. Then shoot the dogs. My anger regarding this kind of topics comes from a statement a dog defender has the chance to publicly share. Was happened a the funeral of a 4 years boy killed by dogs. And a lady (generally are ladies) said to the father who was there to bury his child: "I understand your pain. I felt exactly the same when my little dog died".