Stray Animal Management Strategies

Many other countries have a much more serious problem with stray animals than we do here in Cabo Verde, so it is interesting to see how other organisations manage their populations.

SCAD based in Bangkok have published this very interesting summary of strategies that work and don't work.  Stray Animal Management Strategies.

Here also are the links to the two reports mentioned:

Guidelines for Dog Population Management W.H.O. Geneva, 1990 (page 74): ‘Removal and killing of dogs should never be considered as the most effective way of dealing with a problem of surplus dogs in the community: it has no effect whatsoever on the root cause of the problem’

Report of W.H.O. Consultation on Dog Ecology Studies, related to Rabies Control, Geneva 22-25 February 1988 (page 11): ‘In none of the studies did the elimination of dogs by any method have any significant long-term effect on dog population size’

100,000 unwanted animal births prevented.

In two weeks, veterinarians from Germany & Cape Verde performed 529 sterilisation operations on dogs and cats - an estimated 100,000 unwanted animals have been prevented from being born, plus there are huge benefits to the animal's health and life of the owners.

Read more here.

How is this number calculated?

If each animal has 6 puppies/kittens twice a year and half of them are female, who then have 6 puppies twice a year, the figure grows exponentially.

Year 1 - 529 x 6 = 3,174 births
Year 2 - 3,174 + 529 (from year 1) = 22,218 births
Year 3 - 22,218 + 3,174 (from year 2) + 529 (from year 1) = 155,526

Insane numbers that hardly seem possible!  The ONLY way is sterilisation.  Please support the association's work by writing emails or making a donation - any small amount goes a long, long way.