Public policies for population management of dogs and cats and social indicators of the Curitiba Metropolitan Region in Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to map public policies for population management of dogs and cats in the Curitiba Metropolitan Region (CMR) and to assess their correlations with social indicators. The data used consisted of answers from questionnaires sent via email to public managers of 14 municipalities of the CMR, and data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and Parana Institute for Economic and Social Development (IPARDES). Nine of the 14 municipalities (64.29%) had public policies for population management of dogs and cats, and five (35.71%) had no such public policies. Six (42.86%) municipalities had no other public policy related to population management of dogs and cats, besides population management; and eight (57.14%) had other public policies. The three indicators that had significant and positive correlation with the existence of these public policies were Total Gross Domestic Product (GDPt) (0.028), Income Inequality (GINI index) (0.039), and Human Development Index (HDI) (0.039). However, the decision for the implementation of public policies related to animals depends on the local government because investments on these policies are not considered in the municipal tax revenue.