Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217

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Preventive Veterinary Medicine

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/prevetmed

Owned dog demography in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala

Andrew S. Pulczer ∗ , Andria Jones-Bitton, David Waltner-Toews, Cate E. Dewey
Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A thorough knowledge of the dog demography should be an integral element in the plan-
Received 29 April 2011 ning, implementation and evaluation of dog population control measures. In May 2008, a
Received in revised form 26 July 2012
door-to-door household census of human and owned canine populations was conducted
Accepted 27 July 2012
in 12 contiguous neighbourhoods in the town of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala.
During the census, household and footpath data were recorded using a handheld Global
Keywords:
Positioning System (GPS), and used to create digital census route maps, and perimeter and
Dog
Demography area estimates of the study region. Approximately 99% of all households (472/476) partic-
Census ipated in the census, representing 2461 people in the overall estimated study region area
Population estimation of 80 hectares (ha). A total of 382 dogs were owned by 50.8% (240/472) of households,
Global Positioning System yielding means of 0.8 (382/472) owned dogs per household and 1.6 (382/240) dogs per
Guatemala dog-owning household. Of the total 382 owned dogs, 88.2% (337/382) were aged three
months or older; of these, 68.5% (231/337) were reported as not normally being confined
on the household property during the average day, and 9.7% (24/247) of the males and
none of the females (0/81) were reported to be neutered. Of the households that owned
female dogs, 89.7% (52/58) and 91.4% (53/58) reported that they would have females sur-
gically or non-surgically neutered, respectively, if these services were available. Of the
households that owned male dogs, 90.3% (176/195) and 92.3% (180/195) reported that
they would have males surgically or non-surgically neutered, respectively, if these ser-
vices were available. Approximately 72% (238/330) of owned dogs were vaccinated for
rabies, and 80% (187/238) of these were males. The owned dog male:female ratio was
2.6:1 (275/107), the owned dog:human ratio was 1:6.4 (382/2461), and the absolute den-
sity was 478 (382/0.80) owned dogs/km2 . This knowledge of the owned dog demography
was generated using simple means and has been of direct use in support of, and as base-
line data for the planning, implementation and evaluation of subsequent dog population
control measures in this population; they may be of similar use in other comparable
populations.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction injuries and environmental pollution and sources of

Globally, human–dog interactions cause significant
social, economic and human health costs. Public health
problems linked with dogs include zoonoses, contact
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 289 624 1592;
mobile: +1 647 297 4622.
E-mail address: pulczer@vetmobile.ca (A.S. Pulczer).
pathogenic organisms via dog wastes and carcasses (Matter
and Daniels, 2000, p. 19). Dogs are associated with over
60 zoonoses (Matter and Daniels, 2000, p. 19; Reece,
2005), and those of significant concern include rabies
(WHO/WSPA, 1990, p. 11; Matter and Daniels, 2000, p.
19; WHO, 2004, p. 47), echinococcosis and toxocariasis
(WHO/WSPA, 1990, p. 11; Matter and Daniels, 2000, p.
19). Bite wounds may be associated with significant scar-
ring and disfigurement, infection, pain, anxiety and medical

0167-5877/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2012.07.012
210 A.S. Pulczer et al. / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217
care costs (Matter and Daniels, 2000, p. 19). Dogs can also
limit daily human activities via fear, intimidation and phys-
ical attacks (Matter and Daniels, 2000, p. 18). Dogs may also
have a negative impact on tourism, livestock and wildlife,
and thus, the local economy (Matter and Daniels, 2000,
p. 19). Additional social problems associated with dogs
include road accidents, fighting, noise, bitches in heat, and
uncontrolled breeding (Matter and Daniels, 2000, p. 18;
Jackman and Rowan, 2007, p. 55). Finally, dog overpopu-
lation is a contributing factor in the welfare problems of
the dog population itself (WHO/WSPA, 1990, p. 9; Matter
and Daniels, 2000, p. 18; Jackman and Rowan, 2007, p.
58), including disease, parasitism, competition for food
and starvation, repeated pregnancies, human abuse and
harassment, motor vehicle accidents, abandonment, and
the inhumane killing of dogs (Jackman and Rowan, 2007,
pp. 55–62).
Wherever dogs present risks to human health, a
thorough knowledge of the demography of the dog pop-
ulation should be an integral element in the planning,
implementation and evaluation of dog population con-
trol measures (WHO/WSPA, 1990, p. 9), so that targeted
components of these measures can be efficiently utilized
(WHO/WSPA, 1990, pp. 80–82). Nevertheless, estimating
dog demographics is challenging, especially in econom-
ically disadvantaged communities, where high numbers
of poorly supervised dogs are often present (Matter and
Daniels, 2000, p. 18), and in many developing countries
where, on average, more than 50% of dogs are poorly super-
vised and free-ranging (Matter and Daniels, 2000, p. 45).
It is in these resource and infrastructure-poor communi-
ties that the public health, economic and welfare impacts,
and the need for interventions using simple means may be
greatest.
Several of the abovementioned issues with dogs
prompted a United States Peace Corps volunteer living in
Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala, with approval from
the local municipal government, to request assistance from
Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières
– Canada (VWB/VSF-Canada) to evaluate and ameliorate
the risks associated with the perceived high numbers
of dogs in the community. Specifically, the volunteer
described anecdotal reports of human fear and intimida-
tion by dogs, considerable environmental contamination
from dog waste, dog fighting, and canine attacks on live-
stock. Unfortunately, no other information on the problems
associated with dogs was available at the time; there were
no reliable medical or veterinary data, as medical services
were minimal and veterinary services non-existent in the
community. A related paper, borne out of the study pre-
sented here, has since been published that characterizes
some of the problems posed by dogs in this community
including: dog bites to humans, negative perceptions of
dogs in terms of human fear and intimidation, and the abil-
ity of dogs to transmit diseases to people (Lunney et al.,
2011).
Todos Santos Cuchumatán is a municipality in the
Guatemalan Department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala,
situated in the Cuchumatán Mountains at an elevation of
2500 m. The municipality covers an area of approximately
269 km2 and is formed by the Mayan town of Todos Santos
Cuchumatán, six villages and 69 smaller rural villages. The
town of Todos Santos Cuchumatán includes 21 neighbour-
hoods (Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, 2004), 11
of which are located within 0.5 km of the centrally located
town centre and neighbourhood, El Centro. Together, El
Centro and the 11 neighbourhoods surrounding it make up
the study region within the town of Todos Santos Cuchu-
matán, hereafter referred to as Todos Santos.
The present study arose as a result of the assistance
requested of VWB/VSF-Canada. The objective of the study
was to provide owned dog baseline data using simple
means, for the planning, implementation and evaluation
of subsequent owned dog health and population control
measures by: (1) conducting a household census to charac-
terize the owned dog population, (2) estimating the owned
dog:human ratio and the absolute densities of owned dogs
within the study region, and (3) evaluating household
attitudes regarding canine neutering using surgical and
non-surgical options.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study region neighbourhood selection
The study region neighbourhood selection was made
after consultations with the municipal mayor and town
neighbourhood leaders. El Centro and the 11 contigu-
ous neighbourhoods within 0.5 km of it, formed the study
region of Todos Santos. Specifically, these 12 study neigh-
bourhoods were: El Centro, Angle, Che Cruz, Chiquimpic, El
Calvario, Las Ruinas, Los Jimenez, Los Matias, Los Mendoza,
Los Pablos, Los Perez and Tuj Cuc. Other neighbourhoods
were excluded from the study region because they were
at relatively large distances from El Centro (i.e. >1 km from
El Centro border), rural, and were reported by their neigh-
bourhood leaders to have negligible problems associated
with dogs.
Due to the presence of a single household in Los Perez,
data from this neighbourhood were combined with the
adjacent neighbourhood of Los Matias for analyses. Addi-
tionally, data from the neighbourhoods of El Calvario and
El Centro were combined for analyses, due to an error of
omission during the recording of Global Positioning Sys-
tem (GPS) data in these two neighbourhoods. Therefore,
10 neighbourhood groups consisting of the 12 individual
neighbourhoods of interest constituted the study region.
A related article, borne out of the present study,
describes the selection of the study region and details of the
household census presented here (Lunney et al., 2011). The
University of Guelph Research Ethics Board approved the
involvement of human participants in this study (Protocol
#08AP007).
2.2. Door-to-door household census
A household questionnaire was designed and modi-
fied from dog ecology questionnaires (WHO/WSPA, 1990,
pp. 31–37) to collect data on the neighbourhood, num-
bers of households, numbers of people and owned dogs,
as well as dog confinement status, and age and sex cate-
gory data for owned dogs. All households within the study
 A.S. Pulczer et al. / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217
region were included in a door-to-door household census
during May 6–22, 2008. Since there were no street
maps, street names, house numbers, or household enu-
meration listings available, local neighbourhood leaders
accompanied seven trained interviewers to administer the
household questionnaires. Gender was not applicable in
participant selection and these data were not recorded. Age
was not a factor in participant selection except with regards
to consent by an authorized party for minors of less than
16 years of age. If no one was home during the initial visit,
households were revisited until the residents participated
or refused to participate in the census, or the households
were determined to be unoccupied. The questionnaire was
originally written in English and translated into Spanish. As
most residents spoke Mam, the local Mayan language, the
questionnaire was administered orally in either Spanish
or Mam at the preference of the interviewee. The house-
hold census data were entered and analyzed in Microsoft
Excel 2004 for Mac version 11.5.6 (Microsoft Corporation,
2004). All data entries were validated by visually com-
paring spreadsheet entries to the original questionnaire
responses to ensure accuracy.
2.3. Neighbourhood GPS data, perimeter and area
calculations
During the door-to-door household census, neighbour-
hood footpaths and household locations were electroni-
cally recorded as tracks and waypoints respectively, along
roads, streets and walking paths using a Garmin Colorado
300 mapping handheld GPS (Garmin International Inc.,
2008a). The estimated GPS position error was defined by a
95% confidence circle of radius 10 m, such that 95% of posi-
tion estimates would fall within, and 5% would fall outside,
the 10 m radius circle with the true position at the centre
(Garmin International Inc., 2008b). These data were used to
generate digital neighbourhood routes, using Garmin Map-
Source Trip & Waypoint Manager software version 5.00
(Garmin International Inc., 2008c).
Within the study region, for neighbourhood routes
where there were no adjacent routes within 100 m, the
neighbourhood perimeter was extended by 50 m from the
route limits. Otherwise, where neighbourhood routes were
within 100 m of those of another route, the neighbourhood
perimeter was placed equidistant between the two. Neigh-
bourhood group areas were estimated by digitally tracing
the area boundaries for each neighbourhood group via
software-generated perimeter and area calculations using
Garmin MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager software
version 5.00 (Garmin International Inc., 2008c). Relevant
neighbourhood perimeter segments were then merged to
generate the florally irregular study region route-based
perimeter, and the overall study region perimeter and area
were then estimated using the same software.
2.4. Dog population categorization
For dog population analyses and reporting, the dog
population was subdivided into multiple categories, by
sex, confinement status, and age category (puppies aged
less than three months and juvenile to adult dogs aged
211
three months or greater) (Matter et al., 2000). These age
categories were chosen to be consistent with potential dog
population control and health and welfare interventions,
including non-surgical intratesticular injection neutering
in male dogs and rabies vaccination. An “owned” dog was
one for whom a person, during the census, stated that they
owned the dog and the dog came to the home to be fed. An
owned juvenile to adult dog, reported by the owner as nor-
mally (i.e. on an average day) being physically confined on
the property during the daytime, was deemed a “confined”
dog, and was otherwise “unconfined”. Owned puppies less
than three months of age were deemed confined because
they were routinely observed on the premises in Todos San-
tos, and were therefore considered somewhat sedentary
and less mobile than older dogs (Matter et al., 2000).
2.5. Statistical analyses
Descriptive statistics were performed using Microsoft
Excel 2004 for Mac version 11.5.6 (Microsoft Corporation,
2004). As a near census of the population was achieved,
associated confidence intervals were not calculated. How-
ever, odds ratios and associated 95% confidence intervals
were calculated using R version 2.9.0 (R Development Core
Team, 2009).
3. Results
3.1. Census participation, household and human data
Of the known 476 inhabited households in the study
region, four were excluded because the owners refused to
participate, with one in Angle, one in Los Jimenez and two
in Los Pablos. Therefore, the household census participa-
tion rate was 99.2% (472/476), representing 2461 people.
Of these 2461 participants, 49.7% (1224/2461) were adults
18 years of age or older, comprised of 511 men and 713
women. The total reported number of children less than 18
years of age was 1237, however the specific age category
of 13 children are unknown. Of the children with known
age category, 5.2% (64/1224) were less than one year, 22.6%
(277/1224) were 1–5 years, 40.7% (498/1224) were 6–12
years and 31.5% (398/1224) were 13–17 years. In the overall
study region, the median number of people per household
was five and the mean number of people per household
was 5.2 (2461/472). These household and human data by
each neighbourhood group are listed in Table 1.
3.2. Dog ownership, dog:human ratios and absolute
density data
Of the 472 participating households, 50.8% (240/472) of
households owned a total of 382 dogs, yielding means of 0.8
(382/472) owned dogs per household, 1.6 (382/240) dogs
per dog-owning household and a median of one dog per
dog owning household. There were 156, 58, 13, 5, 3, 3, 1
and 1 household(s) that owned 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 11 dogs
respectively. Of the 240 households that owned dogs, the
owned dog:human ratios had a median of 1:4 and a range
of 7:3 to 1:23. The mean owned dog:human ratio for all
households in the study region was 1:6.4 (382/2461). The
212 A.S. Pulczer et al. / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217

Number of people categorized by gender and age, number of households, and median number of people per household determined from a household census conducted in ten neighbourhood groups in Todos
estimated study region area was 80 ha and the absolute

Median No.
owned dog density was 478 (382/0.80) owned dogs/km2 .

people per
household
Table 2 lists these data by each neighbourhood group.

4.5
5
4
5
5
5
5

5
5
5

5
3.3. Owned dog demography data by age, sex,

The specific age category of 13 children from the neighbourhood of Angle are unknown. However, the total number of reported children under the age of 18 years in Todos Santos was 1237.
households confinement and rabies vaccination status

41 Of the total 382 owned dogs reported in the census,

28
47
38
19
55
20
103
19
102

472
No.

the male:female ratio was approximately 2.6:1 (275/107),

88.2% (337/382) were aged three months or older, and
No. kids 13–17

of these, 68.5% (231/337) were reported as normally not

being confined on the household property and allowed to
range freely during the average day. The male:female sex
years

17a

385a
40

36
28
21
60
16
68
17
82
ratio favored males (OR = 2.57; 95% CI: 1.96–3.38). Approx-
imately 72% (238/330) of dogs were vaccinated for rabies;
of these, 69.3% (165/238) were intact males, 9.2% (22/238)
No. kids 6–12

were neutered males, 21.4% (51/238) were intact females,

and 0% (0/238) were neutered females. The rabies vacci-
years

nation rate was higher in males than females at a ratio of

17a

498a
44

50
46
21
55
26
107
18
114

1.08:1 for 73.3% (187/255) of males vaccinated versus 68.0%

(51/75) of females, however this difference was not statis-
tically significant (OR = 1.08; 95% CI: 0.71–1.65). The dog
No. kids 1–5

demographics for each of the neighbourhood groups are

listed in Table 3.
years

12a

277a
21

28
31
2
25
14
76
9
59

3.4. Dog neuter status and willingness to surgically and

non-surgically neuter dogs
No. kids <1

No owned dogs less than three months of age (0/44)

year

4a

64a
6

4
5
0
11
1
15
3
15

and no (0/81) females were reported neutered. Approxi-

mately 9.7% (24/247) of owned males aged three months
or older were neutered. Of these 247 owned male dogs
No. kids <18

aged three months or older, 7.9% (14/178) of unconfined

males and 14.5% (10/69) of confined males were neutered.
years

111
63
118
110
44
151
57
266
47
270

1237

Of the households that owned female dogs, 89.7% (52/58)

of owners reported that they would have females surgically
neutered, and 91.4% (53/58) would have females non-
surgically neutered, if the services were available. Of the
No. women
≥18 years

households that owned male dogs, 90.3% (176/195) would

have males surgically neutered, and 92.3% (180/195) would
65
40
76
50
30
88
24
163
29
148

713

have males non-surgically neutered, if the services were

available. Table 4 lists the neuter status and household will-
ingness to neuter their dogs by each of the neighbourhood
No. men ≥18

groups.
years

4. Discussion
44
26
53
45
20
56
26
124
24
93

511

In this study, 50.8% of surveyed households owned

dogs. Although the degree of dog ownership was variable
Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala, May 2008.

No. people

as observed in other developing countries, the majority

of households typically owned dogs. As examples, 62%
220
129
247
205
94
295
107
553
100
511

2461

ownership was reported in Zimbabwean communal lands

(Butler and Bingham, 2000), 63% ownership was reported
Los Matias and Los Perez

El Centro and El Calvario

in Machakos District, Kenya (Kitala et al., 2001), 67% own-

Neighbourhood group

ership was reported in the Mirigama area of Sri Lanka

(Matter et al., 2000) and 88.9% ownership in Antananarivo,
Madagascar (Ratsitorahina et al., 2009). While dogs are
Los Mendoza
Los Jimenez
Chiquimpic

Las Ruinas

commonly owned in developing countries, almost half of

Los Pablos

Che Cruz
Tuj Cuc

the households in Todos Santos did not own a dog, and

Angle
Table 1

Total

therefore many residents may be less tolerant of free-

a

roaming dogs. The range of owned dogs per dog owning

Table 2
Owned dog demographics determined from a household census and GPS area calculations conducted in ten neighbourhood groups in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala, May 2008.

Neighbourhood group No. owned dogs Percent of Median No. owned No. people Owned dog to Areab [ha] Absolute density of
households that dogs per human ratio owned dogs
own dogsa dog-owning [owned dogs/km2 ]
household

Tuj Cuc 37 56.1 (23/41) 1 220 1:6.0 4.5 822

Angle 25 53.6 (15/28) 1 129 1:5.2 11.2 223
Los Matias and Los Perez 50 59.6 (28/47) 2 247 1:4.9 10.6 472
Los Pablos 46 60.5 (23/38) 1 205 1:4.5 7.4 622
Chiquimpic 17 57.9 (11/19) 1 94 1:5.5 3.4 500
Che Cruz 61 69.1 (38/55) 1 295 1:4.8 9.7 629
Las Ruinas 16 60.0 (12/20) 1 107 1:6.8 10.0 160

A.S. Pulczer et al. / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217

El Centro and El Calvario 45 34.0 (35/103) 1 553 1:12.3 6.9 652
Los Jimenez 25 68.4 (13/19) 2 100 1:4.0 4.2 595
Los Mendoza 60 41.2 (42/102) 1 511 1:8.5 12.1 496

Total 382 50.8 (240/472) 1 2461 1:6.4 80.0 478

a
Calculated as: number of dog owning households/total number of households.
b
GPS area calculations using GPS data with positional accuracy defined by a 95% confidence circle of radius 10 m, such that 95% of position estimates would fall within, and 5% would fall outside, the 10 m
radius circle with the true position at the centre.

Table 3
Number of owned dogs categorized by daytime confinement, age and sex, and owned dog sex ratios and number of owned dog rabies vaccinates determined from a household census conducted in ten
neighbourhood groups in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala, May 2008.

Neighbourhood group No. owned No. owned No. owned No. owned No. owned No. owned Male:female sex Percent of dog rabies
unconfineda male unconfineda female confinedb male confinedb female confinedc male confinedc female ratio vaccinates (dog rabies
dogs ≥3 months dogs ≥3 months dogs ≥3 months dogs ≥3 months dogs <3 months dogs <3 months vaccinates/owned dogs)e

Tuj Cuc 17 7 7 2 3 1 2.7 87.9 (29/33)

Angle 5 1 8 7 0 4 1.1 52.4 (11/21)
Los Matias and Los Perez 26 9 5 4 3 3 2.1 85.1 (40/47)
Los Pablos 11 3 15 7 6 4 2.3 86.7 (26/30)
Chiquimpic 2 2 7 3 1 2 1.4 76.9 (10/13)
Che Cruz 32 8 12 4 2 3 3.1 53.8 (28/52)
Las Ruinas 13 1 1 1 0 0 7 60.0 (9/15)
El Centro and El Calvario 27d 5 6 2 3 2 4 79.5 (31/39)
Los Jimenez 14 3 4 4 0 0 2.6 41.7 (10/24)
Los Mendoza 33 12 6 1 6 2 3 78.6 (44/56)

Total 180 51 71 35 24 21 2.6 72.1 (238/330)

a
Owned dogs not normally confined on the household property during an average day.
b
Owned dogs normally confined on the household property during an average day.
c
Dogs <3 months of age were assumed to be confined.
d
The confinement status was unknown for one owned male dog ≥3 months in the neighbourhood group of El Cenro and El Calvario, and was deemed to be unconfined for analysis purposes.
e
There are 52 owned dogs with unknown rabies vaccination status.

213
214 A.S. Pulczer et al. / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217

Owned dog rabies vaccination status, neuter status, and owner willingness to surgically and non-surgically neuter their dogs if such veterinary services were available, as determined from a household census
household was 1–11, with a median value of one owned

neuter femalese
non-surgically
dog per household, and a mean of 1.6 owned dogs per dog
% Households

91.4 (53/58)
100 (11/11)
owning household. Previous studies in some indigenous

62.5 (5/8)

87.5 (7/8)

50.0 (1/2)
willing to

100 (5/5)
100 (7/7)

100 (5/5)
100 (3/3)

100 (2/2)
100 (7/7)
regions of Guatemala have reported that the majority of
households own at least one dog, and up to 10 dogs (Ryan
et al., 2003).
In general, American and European countries have
reported owned dog:human ratios between 1:10 and 1:6
willing to surgically

(WHO/WSPA, 1990, p. 9). Owned dog population projec-

neuter femalese
% Households

tion estimates in Guatemala have historically been based

89.7 (52/58)
100 (11/11)
87.5 (7/8)
50.0 (4/8)

50.0 (1/2)
on studies from the 1980s and suggest owned dog:human
100 (5/5)
100 (7/7)

100 (5/5)
100 (3/3)

100 (2/2)
100 (7/7) ratios of 1:9 in urban areas and 1:6 in rural areas (Ordoñez
et al., 2005). However, a more recent household survey con-
ducted in Amatitlán, Guatemala Sur, Guatemala, suggests
owned dog:human ratios of 1:6 in urban areas and 1:4 in
rural areas (Juárez et al., 2008). The owned dog:human
ratios observed for the overall study region here (1:6.4)
92.3 (180/195)
non-surgically
neuter malesd
% Households

85.2 (23/27)
84.6 (11/13)
88.6 (31/35)
96.7 (29/30)
87.0 (20/23)
100 (18/18)
100 (13/13)

100 (21/21)

are consistent with these estimates. It is important to note

85.7 (6/7)
willing to

100 (8/8)

that the dog:human ratio reported here is for owned dogs

only; thus, the total dog:human ratio for this population
would be higher when unowned dogs are also considered.
This high dog:human ratio may be representative of the
perceived community problem. A related paper that arose
willing to surgically

from the household census reported here describes some of

90.3 (176/195)
neuter malesd

the problems associated with the dogs in this community

% Households

94.4 (17/18)

82.6 (19/23)

85.2 (23/27)
84.6 (11/13)
88.6 (31/35)
95.2 (20/21)

96.7 (29/30)
100 (13/13)

(Lunney et al., 2011), and confirmed that the dogs of Todos

71.4 (5/7)

100 (8/8)

Santos were a concern to community members. For exam-

ple, the majority of households strongly agreed that there
There are 15 households that own male dogs with unknown response to the question of willingness to neuter.
There is 1 household that owns female dogs with unknown response to the question of willingness to neuter.

were too many dogs in the community (82.6%; 390/472

households), and that these dogs posed physical risks to
people (78.8%; 372/472 households), could transmit infec-
tions to people (88.6%; 418/472 households), and scared
members of their household (82.4%; 389/472).
0 (0/10)
0 (0/12)
0 (0/16)
0 (0/14)
0 (0/7)
0 (0/13)
0 (0/1)
0 (0/8)
0 (0/7)
0 (0/14)

0 (0/102)
% Females
neuteredc

Approximately 68.5% of owned dogs older than three

conducted in ten neighbourhood groups in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala, May 2008.

months within the study region were reported as not nor-

mally being confined during the average day. This finding
is typical of many developing countries, where the major-
ity of the dog population is only temporarily restricted in
% Males neuteredb

their activities and movements, if at all (Matter and Daniels,

2000, p. 45; Jackman and Rowan, 2007, p. 58). As exam-
8.9 (24/271)

ples, it was reported that 69% of owned dogs were never

14.8 (4/27)
15.4 (2/13)
8.8 (3/34)
12.9 (4/31)

2.2 (1/45)
7.7 (1/14)
13.9 (5/36)
16.7 (3/17)
2.3 (1/45)

There are 52 owned dogs with unknown rabies vaccination status.

0.0 (0/9)

restricted and ranged freely in the Machakos District, Kenya

There are 4 owned female dogs with unknown neuter status.

(Kitala et al., 2001), 74% of dogs were allowed to roam

There are 5 owned male dogs with unknown neuter status.

freely in the Thungsong District of Thailand (Kongkaew

et al., 2004), 79.1% of owned dogs were never restricted and
roamed freely in Antananarivo, Madagascar (Ratsitorahina
% Dogs vaccinated

et al., 2009), 85% of owned dogs were free-ranging dur-

72.1 (238/330)

ing the day in the Sorsogon Province of the Republic of the

87.9 (29/33)
52.4 (11/21)

53.8 (28/52)

79.5 (31/39)

78.6 (44/56)
85.1 (40/47)
86.7 (26/30)
76.9 (10/13)

41.7 (10/24)
60.0 (9/15)
for rabiesa

Philippines (Childs et al., 1998), and 89.5% of owned dogs

were always free to range in Zimbabwean communal lands
(Butler and Bingham, 2000).
Free-roaming dog populations generally suffer from
extremely poor health and welfare (Jackman and Rowan,
Los Matias and Los Perez

El Centro and El Calvario

2007, p. 58), and relative to dogs that are not free-roaming,

Neighbourhood group

are generally less healthy due to fighting and increased

exposure to communicable diseases (Fielding et al., 2005).
Dogs in developing countries generally receive little vet-
Los Mendoza
Los Jimenez
Chiquimpic

Las Ruinas

erinary care, and free-roaming dogs are even less likely to

Los Pablos

Che Cruz
Tuj Cuc

receive veterinary care than dogs that are not free-roaming

Angle
Table 4

Total

(Jackman and Rowan, 2007, p. 58). Free-roaming dogs also

a

tend to be plagued by disease and parasitism (Boitani et al.,

 A.S. Pulczer et al. / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217
1995; Fielding et al., 2005) and are less likely to be vac-
cinated (Kongkaew et al., 2004). To eliminate or prevent
rabies outbreaks, the WHO recommends that at least 70%
of the community dog population should be vaccinated
(Kongkaew et al., 2004). Despite the reported level of rabies
vaccination in owned dogs being 72% in Todos Santos in this
study, given that the majority (33/52) of dogs of unknown
rabies vaccination status were less than three months of
age, it is likely that the rabies vaccination coverage for
the owned dog population was below the 70% thresh-
old. Furthermore, given that this study does not include
a substantial number of unowned dogs, rabies vaccination
coverage was likely well below the 70% threshold.
Free-roaming dogs are also faced with starvation, mal-
nutrition and dehydration (Matter and Daniels, 2000), as
well as being poisoned, harassed by people, and struck by
vehicles (Jackman and Rowan, 2007, p. 58). In addition,
puppies are often left unattended, increasing their risk of
predation (Matter and Daniels, 2000). While not formally
investigated here, the research team did witness fighting
for food among dogs and motor vehicle accidents involving
dogs, during the field visits to Todos Santos. Free-roaming
dogs, particularly in instances of overpopulation, present
public health risks including zoonoses, contact injuries,
environmental pollution (Matter and Daniels, 2000, p. 19),
and the social problems described earlier.
In addition to the fear and intimidation caused by dogs
and encountered by community members in Todos Santos
that were reported by Lunney et al. (2011) and described
above, there were other indications that dogs posed prob-
lems to community members. Approximately 16.5% of
households (78/472) also reported at least one dog bite dur-
ing the previous two year period, which equated to 85 dog
bites, the majority of which 64.7% (55/85) required treat-
ment at home or from a health care practitioner (Lunney
et al., 2011). While a formal quantification of the risks other
than dog bites that are associated with dog overpopula-
tion was not performed as part of this or the Lunney et al.
(2011) study, they were highly evident within the study
region. For instance, environmental contamination with
dog wastes was widespread, particularly at the munici-
pal garbage dump frequently used by dogs as a source for
food. An investigation of gastrointestinal parasite infesta-
tions of owned dogs in Todos Santos was performed by
the lead author in January 2009. Fecal floatation testing on
randomly collected fecal samples from 49 dogs less than
one year of age, confirmed positive test results at a level
of 71.4% (35/49) for helminths, including one or more of
Toxocara canis, Ancylostoma spp., Dipilydium spp., Taenia
spp. and Trichuris spp., for each positive fecal floatation test
(unpublished data). Community members also shared sto-
ries of dog attacks on livestock, including cattle and sheep.
These issues highlight the importance of responsible dog
ownership and dog population control measures, particu-
larly in developing countries. It is obvious that both owned
and unowned dogs are contributing to the population of
free-roaming dogs in Todos Santos, indicating that control
of both groups of dogs is important if the community is
to reduce the fear and public health problems associated
with dogs. Accordingly, a limitation of this study is the sole
inclusion of the owned dog population. A subsequent paper
215
by the authors uses a variety of mark-recapture estimation
methods to determine the unowned and free-roaming dog
populations in this community. The owned dog demogra-
phy data that were generated in the present study are being
used as baseline data to evaluate the long-term effective-
ness of population control interventions.
In this study, there were proportionally more males
than females (2.6:1) in the owned dog population. In most
developing countries, the preference for male dogs, and
the higher mortality rates of female dogs, results in male
dominated sex ratios (Matter and Daniels, 2000). When
a community concern is dog aggression, a high propor-
tion of intact male dogs is relevant, as they are more
likely to be aggressive than either neutered males or
females. As examples of male dominated sex ratios, the
owned dog male:female sex ratio was 1.59:1 in Antana-
narivo, Madagascar (Ratsitorahina et al., 2009), 2:1 in
Thailand (Kongkaew et al., 2004), 5.7:1 in Bali, Indonesia
(Margawani and Robertson, 1995), and 6.8:1 in Istanbul,
Turkey (WHO, 1998). Possible reasons for the typically
male dominated sex ratios among owned dog populations
have been described previously (Pal, 2001). These include
human-imposed selection pressures, such as direct selec-
tion of males as better guard dogs (Kitala et al., 2001)
and household pets (Daniels and Bekoff, 1989; Boitani
et al., 1995). Dog owners have also been reported to want
to avoid responsibility for females in estrus or for litters
(Hsu et al., 2003; Margawani and Robertson, 1995), lead-
ing to selective removal of females from the population
during breeding periods to disband groups of male dogs
(Matter and Daniels, 2000) and avoid unwanted pregnan-
cies (Daniels and Bekoff, 1989); or permanent removal by
killing females as newborn puppies (Daniels and Bekoff,
1989; Boitani et al., 1995; Matter and Daniels, 2000). In this
study, the male:female owned dog sex ratio favored males
over females with statistical significance at the p = 0.05
level. There were no trends noted regarding neighbour-
hood parameters with regards to sex ratio or dog:human
ratio at the neighbourhood level.
Female dogs were reported to be less likely to be vacci-
nated than males in Machakos District, Kenya, where 35%
of male dogs were vaccinated, compared with only 20%
of females (Kitala et al., 2001). In this study, the rabies
vaccination rate was higher in males than females, how-
ever when the vaccination rates were compared there was
no statistically significant difference at the p = 0.05 level.
Female dogs were also reported more likely to be aban-
doned than males and less likely to be licensed than male
dogs in New Providence, Bahamas, where 59% of males and
41% of females are licensed (Fielding et al., 2005), and to
have shorter life spans than males; these higher mortal-
ity rates were related to lower levels of care provided by
owners (Jackman and Rowan, 2007, p. 59).
In this study, 9.7% (24/247) of males aged three months
or older, no (0/81) females aged three months or older, and
no dogs less than three months of age (0/44) were reported
neutered. This tendency for females to be neutered less
often than males has been reported elsewhere (Jackman
and Rowan, 2007, p. 58). As examples, 15% of male dogs, but
no female dogs, were neutered in the Machakos District,
Kenya (Kitala et al., 2001), 16.3% of male dogs compared
216 A.S. Pulczer et al. / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 108 (2013) 209–217
with 0.7% of female dogs were neutered in Zimbabwean
communal lands (Butler and Bingham, 2000), and 44% of
male dogs but only 11% of female dogs were neutered in
Bali, Indonesia (Margawani and Robertson, 1995). How-
ever, there have been exceptions where female dogs were
reported to have a higher sterilization rate than males,
such as New Providence, Bahamas (Fielding and Plumridge,
2005) and in Thungsong District, Thailand (Kongkaew et al.,
2004). In many developing countries, low rates of dog ster-
ilization, especially in females, perpetuates uncontrolled
breeding, and unwanted pregnancies.
The uncommon occurrence of dog sterilization observed
in this study was apparently not due to a lack of willing-
ness among owners to have their dogs neutered. The large
majority of dog owners reported that they would have their
dogs surgically or non-surgically neutered, if the services
were available. The gender of respondents was not explic-
itly recorded, thus limiting further interpretation of the
percentage of persons who stated that they would neuter
their dog. There was a marginal preference for non-surgical
neuter options, which could be due to perceived safety and
welfare advantages. There are no regular veterinary ser-
vices available in the town of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, as
there are no local resident veterinary personnel or perma-
nent facilities. The nearest veterinary facilities are located
in the neighboring city of Huehuetenango, approximately
two hours away by bus, via tortuous mountain roads. This
lack of infrastructure and service is not uncommon in many
communities in developing countries, which no doubt con-
tributes to problems of dog overpopulation and health and
welfare concerns, as well as their resulting impacts on pub-
lic health.
5. Conclusions
A household census employing a dog ecology ques-
tionnaire was found to be a simple and practical method
of evaluating owned dog demography when household
numbers were manageable. In census study regions where
household enumeration data are unavailable, a handheld
GPS unit can provide a practical means to generate house-
hold enumeration data and census route maps, as well as
perimeter and area estimates.
The total dog population in a community consists of
both owned and non-owned dogs; hence, an obvious com-
ponent of characterizing the overall dog demography in
a population is the inclusion of unowned, free-roaming
dogs in the region. Thus, a limitation of this study is the
sole inclusion of the owned dog population. A subsequent
paper by the authors focuses on the estimation of unowned
and free-roaming dogs in Todos Santos, using a variety of
mark-recapture estimation methods.
A related paper (Lunney et al., 2011) indicated that dog
overpopulation was a problem for community members in
Todos Santos Cuchumatán, and the neuter and willingness
to neuter data reported here supported the introduc-
tion of a chemical and surgical canine neuter campaign.
Owned dog population control and health programs have
since been implemented in this region through VWB/VSF-
Canada, based on the work presented here. The data on
the owned dog demography that were generated in the
present study will be used as baselines to evaluate the
long-term effectiveness of these population control inter-
ventions. These baseline dog demographic data may be
of similar use in comparable populations in resource and
infrastructure-poor environments.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of
interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Mayor and
municipal government of Todos Santos Cuchumatán for
permitting and supporting the study. Thanks are due to
local neighbourhood leaders and field workers for their
contributions, especially Andres Carrillo, as well as the local
residents for their exemplary participation, cooperation
and hospitality. The authors thank Marjolaine Perrault for
her field work and Spanish translation, Kelly McCormack
for her field work and logistic support, Natalia Cernic-
chiaro and Norma Varela for their Spanish translation, Taya
L. Forde for her Guatemalan resource assistance, and Dr.
Brian Aw for contributions in kind. The authors gratefully
acknowledge Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires
sans Frontières – Canada, the Ontario Veterinary College
Fellowship Program and the University of Guelph for fund-
ing. The study sponsors had no involvement in the study
design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of
data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision
to submit the manuscript for publication.
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