Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

MDPI, Veterinary Sciences, 2(10), p. 90, 2023

DOI: 10.3390/vetsci10020090

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Caring for Canines: A Survey of Dog Ownership and Parasite Control Practices in Ireland

Journal article published in 2023 by Caoimhe Sherlock ORCID, Celia V. Holland ORCID, Jason D. Keegan ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Dogs are an important part of life for many people. Dog ownership can confer various health benefits to their owners, but it also presents some risks. In order to establish if dog owners were aware of these risks, an online survey of dog ownership practices was carried out. The survey was open during the month of January 2022 and received 662 responses regarding 850 individual dogs. Overall, 52% of people reported deworming their dog between zero and twice a year, which is unlikely to reduce the risk of infection to humans. The majority of dog owners (71%) reported disposing of faeces correctly; however, when comparing urban and rural environments, 33% of those in rural environments did not dispose of their dogs’ faeces at all, compared with 3% of people in urban locations. People who obtained their dog during the pandemic brought their dog to the vet and dewormed them more frequently than those who obtained their dog before the pandemic. There were no differences in how faeces was disposed of between these groups. These results indicate that we, as researchers and veterinarians, have much work to do in terms of educating dog owners about the ways in which we can reduce the risk of infection to ourselves and our communities.