stray dogs

In the footsteps of a recent dispute, decided to gather common misconceptions of those who undertake to defend the homeless dog. Of course, with a refutation. First of all - the question of origin of homeless dogs, then - on their imaginary harmless, imaginary combat with rats and imaginary effective sterilization program

1. Stray dogs - is thrown domestic dogs, or their recent descendants, hence the "person" as such is a major cause of their appearance, and is responsible for them

Even if stray dogs are a direct product of human irresponsibility - it does not mean that people should feel toward them a reverence, the more so because these dogs pose to people's immediate danger. It is also unclear why some people should take responsibility for the actions of others, totally unfamiliar people. In general, this argument would be extremely foolish, even if it corresponded to reality.

And actually it does not fit perfectly. The population of stray dogs, of course, has a fairly wide variation in phenotype, but not so wide that it was impossible to talk about the type of stray dogs. Typical stray dog - size medium, color is a dirty red interspersed with black (sometimes white), the characteristic ratio (see photo), intelligence is definitely second catastrophe above average intelligence of the domestic dog. Intelligence allows stray dogs to survive in difficult urban environments, and learn by watching the person (up to use public transport).

All these features - certainly the fruit of a long screening devices dogs to conditions of life of the city is as of stray animals. Increased intelligence - a consequence that survived the most cunning and smart dogs. This does not happen in a generation, not two and not three - but for many generations of life of stray dogs in an urban environment, along with the man.

Stray dog population, perhaps partly fueled thrown animals, but, in general, completely self-sufficient - it is like a separate species, adapted to live in the city, parasitizing on human society. Those who are falsely called "stray dogs" were never home, and their ancestors were not - it's dog-pariah, urban vermin exist due to waste and compassionate citizens.

Each female produces twice a year, 6.4 pups. Of them in Moscow, survives for about 40%. This is more than enough for reproduction and population growth.

If stray dogs were formed mainly from discarded - scatter characteristics would have been much greater. That is, we have seen on the streets of dogs similar to Great Danes, similar to the Rottweiler, the Terriers, etc. Then, as a kind of middle stray dog more or less universal. Any purebred dogs - a biological unit, fostered by centuries of strict selection to perform certain functions. Each breed is adapted to their tasks - hunting, protection, decoration, etc. Purebred dogs is designed to perform its function and life on a full human welfare. On "free bread" they simply do not survive. Pedigreed dog does not know how to live in the city, and can not compete with intellectually superior to her in packs of mongrels.

Yes, throwing out pet dogs should be punished. But the problem of homeless dogs will not solve. They are not formed from discarded pets. They live by themselves.

2. Stray dogs do not attack themselves, they need to provoke

Well, actually no one attacks unless provoked. Only the dog idea of provocation are very different from men. What they will accept for the obvious provocation - you can simply ignore.

Dogs protect their territory - would show them that you are threatening their territory - bite. And do not believe those who say that the territorial claims they are aimed only at the fellow - in addition to intraspecific aggression, there is interspecific. Dog protects puppies that are sitting in the hell knows what the stinking hole, and you just pass by - bite. Will go to the roof of the hormones in the spring - bite. Dogs raise their status in the pack by barking and bites of larger objects (people, for example) - a kind of ostentatious "delete". Dogs instinctively pursue the fast-moving objects - cars, bicyclists, skaters. Dogs - carnivores living on the principles of rigid hierarchy, gregarious, so bite the weak and fearful for them is quite natural (and therefore often fall under the distribution of children). Dogs also have a hunting instinct persecution of those who run away (again, frightened children, for example). Dogs perceive the world not through the eyes of people, and through the nose - the differences are subtle nuances of smells that are inaccessible to people. The dog may bite if she does not like the smell - such as perfume. And most importantly - the dog can be solved by pre-emptive attack if you own, for some reason scared (for example, you come too close).

And it's all perfectly healthy, not rabid dog. Frenzied attack just like that. Rabies, by the way, mortally. Not done on time shots - and kirdyk.

Advocates of wild dogs are very fond of handing out advice like "do not have to fear the dog - she smell the fear!". Under the smell of fear, they obviously mean the hormone adrenaline - and those, like robots people apparently are able to control his adrenal functions by power of thought. But mere mortals do not have that one hundred percent control over emotions. We mere mortals adrenaline released not only from fear, but generally at a nervous excitation (ie, upbeat, energetic mood). For example, when a person drinks coffee - the amount of adrenaline in the blood rises. Apparently, we have to give up coffee, so as not to irritate the wild urban fauna. And especially a lot of adrenaline produced by prolonged low-intensity exercise - when running, for example, or riding a bicycle. Perhaps this is why dogs with such fury rush for runners and cyclists. Do not annoy dogs, buy bikes!

I wonder what kind of lecture about the dangers of dog advocates fear would read the boy. Probably, "lie, boy, do not move and do not be afraid and they will not touch you!". Well potrepyat a little bit and not be touched ...

Therefore, seeing the barn without a leash and, especially, a wild pack - it is reasonable to remember in which pocket you have a knife or a gun. The story she herself could somehow - guided by the things you totally invisible, but essential for the canine mind. And no matter how bad the owners or guardians did not squeal "sobachenka not bite," running at you barking dog is better to meet the gas jet.

Have a look at Google for "bitten by a dog" - the victims, mostly children.

3. Stray dogs are a part of urban ecosystems and perform a useful function - fighting with the rats

This argument is very much for the idiots who do not understand what a rat - not for dogs prey, and even a significant competitor. Rats and dogs only occasionally may become competitors for pomoechnuyu food - while the rats did not prevent eating when dogs do not have near the garbage, and in most cases, dogs do not pay any attention to rats. First, the dogs from their defenders distinguishes one thing - some logic behavior. They are usa online casinos much easier otozhratsya a garbage or feed in old women than to chase small rats in the corners and crannies. Secondly, the dogs - they are not cats and rats for them is not the typical prey. But they consider themselves such, cats, killing, thus, natural hunter of rats and pigeons (which are "rats with wings", too, peddlers plague).

Leaving food, compassionate citizens are fed not only dogs, but at the same time, and rats:

Podkarmlivanie dogs compassionate citizens is now almost the main reason for an unprecedented breeding rats. This occurs both in Moscow, where dogs are not caught on account of the program of sterilization of stray animals, and in many other cities in Russia, where fishing is not conducted due to negligence of the authorities to carry out their duties. Logic dictates that if people had not seen on the streets of stray dogs, no one would come to mind to leave food waste near the dumpsters, the habitat of dogs, and just throw food for dogs anywhere on the street. Moscow is now often possible to observe the following picture: the same flock of different people come to feed literally every five minutes. Naturally the dog is unable to digest so much food. And we see what it pours.

In order not to be unfounded, citing a study entitled BIOTIC RELATIONS OF DOGS-pariahs with gray rats and other animals.

Dogs are almost touching the rat, but the killing of cats:

Predation by dogs in relation to the rats in the settlements are insignificant and not cause any serious damage to the number of the latter. Strictly speaking, predation - is the transfer of organic matter (and therefore energy) from one organism to another in the food chain. For the vast majority of dogs as pariahs, it is not energetically significant, since most rations they receive from other sources (fishing, 2005). Predation in relation to the rats as a trophic interaction is a relatively rare phenomenon. Cats, too, rarely is the food of dogs, but, unlike rats, cats more often become victims because of the fact that rodents live in more remote places for dogs. Killing without eating is a form of attacks which killed the rats and significantly more cats: dog pariah they generally do not eat as well, killing and manipulative throw

Not only does not destroy the rats, but also help to add-on:

Populations of rats are often benefited from interaction with the dog population. By the same type can be classified as contact dogs in cities with crows, jackdaws, magpies.
The environmental benefit of having dogs as pariahs in the human settlements in rats more than damage: first, the dogs destroy cats - the major predators of rats in the mining towns, and secondly, improve access to rodents to feed at the expense of stripping waste from dumpsters, breaking and rastryahivaya bags of garbage, etc. (Beck Alan M, 1975). The latter circumstance is beneficial not only for rats but also for the birds.

Summary:

Characterized by biotic contacts pariah dogs with animals more than 70 species. Relationships are characterized by a dog with a rat 5 kinds of biotic relations. Predation is observed relatively infrequently, usually in an unfinished form, without eating the slain prey. Commensalism manifests itself through the destruction of the main enemies of the rats - cats and rodents warning of the danger. Amensalizm expressed slowing breeding rats in the presence of dogs. Competition for food resources (indirectly) - a phenomenon often. Neutralism - one of the most common types of relationships pariah dogs and gray rat. Human contact with the dog in a big city is often more intense and dangerous than the gray rat.

About cats even have a separate study.

Many other kinds of living creatures even more suffer from stray dogs. For example, recent badgers on the island had been eaten by moose dog back in the year 2000. Dog mercilessly sanded area forest parks, natural systems and truly unfortunate dealing nature reserves - hedgehogs, wild birch mouse, rabbit - all go to feed blohastym pariahs. See the relevant section of the Wikipedia article. There are also cases where the dog their way to the zoo and ate rare animals.

4. Destruction of dogs, not necessarily - there are humane ways to deal with the homeless dog. For example, sterilization

Some zoozaschitniki argue that in all Western countries are successfully operating program of sterilization. This is simply a lie. Many Western countries have decided, and solve the problem of stray dogs is that the method of the "final solution" - euthanasia. Read:

The main form of work with street proprietary and stray animals in Western countries is irreversible trapping (ie, withdrawal from the urban environment without subsequent return of the animals to the place of capture) and putting trapped animals in shelters. Shelters also are active as clearing houses abandoned, including the "excess" animals from owners, and as centers for the transfer of animals to new owners. Thus, according to the 1990's, the United States slightly more than half fell into shelters dogs were caught on the streets, the rest - put people first of all owners. Network of shelters - both municipal public and private - works in conjunction with municipal services capture. After the mandatory period of over-exposure - typically from 5 days to two weeks (in England this term - a week) during which the trapped dogs and cats are returned to owners (if they are lost or runaway), the animals can be transferred to new owners or public shelters for further content. Unclaimed animals are euthanized. In reality, the duration of the animal before euthanasia depends on various conditions, but can not be less than the mandatory term of overexposure.

Thus, in the western countries of orphan dogs are caught - and if a week or two, they are not claimed - killed. In this case, there exist private shelters, which are the means of patrons (and not the taxpayers!) May contain a stray dog as much as they want. If the advocates of dogs enjoying sweet to think that a long life in a cage is better quick slumber ...

We have the same "zoozaschitniki" demand that caught the dog in any case not lulled, and sterilized (at the taxpayers' money!) And released back onto the streets. Clearly, in this sterilized dogs did not prevent attacks on people, shit and spread of the disease. But the main problem is that the program is simply ineffective. According to the same site in a Western country, it has not confirmed his supposed efficiency. Multiplication rate is simply higher than the speed of the surgeons involved in their sterilization.

Sterilization program, in fact, was adopted in Moscow in 2002 to the year. No result themselves admit its ideology:

The ideologists of the Moscow program of sterilization recognize that sterilization program had no scientific basis and refute their own theses on the use of stray dogs - http://www.animalsprotectiontribune.ru/PlayVideo_Tez.html

A few years sterilization program has not given absolutely no results. In 2008 the amount which has been started to be sterilized Moscow blohastyh was 1.5 billion (milliarda!) rubles. If I remember correctly, the recovery of the entire city of Tskhinvali last summer has been allocated 2 billion.

According to some experts the number of stray dogs in Moscow in 2005 was 98-100 thousand units, according to the government in Moscow - 20 thousand (strong growth way, celebrate with 2002-03, when forbidden to kill them). Over the years the program of sterilization, these figures have not changed (see Wikipedia).

Money spent heap, the results - zero.

Moreover, the policy of sterilization leads to an increase in the number of dogs:

yet caught the dog will be over-exposed (10 days), then after the surgery a few days in a cage until complete recovery, during her absence the place "on the street" will take other individuals and not let the former owner in the area. Thus, the migration of the dogs will still happen, but workers will already be much higher, they will move out of town and yet large numbers to settle in the neighborhood of the city, which has its own large population of stray and feral dogs. Upon checking the Moscow suburbs stray dogs, these animals together with the local feral dogs will make large populations, resulting in increased activity of predators in the impoverished fauna not only cities but also suburban and natural lands, intensify exchange of pathogens between wild animals and dogs, which can lead to Epizootics among them Zooanthroponoses spread among the population of Moscow and Moscow region. And this means that humanity will turn to dogs for a person negatively.

The fight with the homeless dog - a process that undoubtedly requires a comprehensive response. Destruction of garbage dumps, fines for stranded pets, fines, compassionate nursing of citizens and always - trapping and destruction. Without the last item in any way. And the destruction must be massive, so that the population did not have time to recover:

only a reduction in population during the year by 80% and more leads to loss of ability to heal itself of its strength for next year. Hunting experts are well aware that "A reduction with consequent reduction in population can only be in excess of 50% of the production level, otherwise the next year the population recovers. Consequently, in an attempt to reduce the population size must be adjusted annually to reduce the population size of at least 60%.