Dogs and cats run over in an urban area: analysis of the costs generated, risk areas, and other aspects

Abstract

Dogs and cats released on public roads can be owned, community-owned, or abandoned. The lack of efficient public policies for canine and feline population management (CFPM) facilitates the presence of animals on the streets, which can cause accidents and be run over. No studies identify the areas most at risk of being run over, nor are the costs involved in removing and properly disposing of carcasses known. The rate of animal running over in the municipalities can serve as an indicator for monitoring responsible animal guardianship actions and the CFPM program strategies. The objective of this study was to analyze the running over of dogs and cats and the costs involved in the Municipality of Pinhais, Paraná, Brazil, compared to other dog and cat population management costs. The City Hall provided data from January 2016 to December 2017 on collecting animal carcasses from public roads, including costs, the number of animals run over by species, and addresses from the running over to map occurrences. During this period, 199 dogs and 32 cats killed by being run over were collected. The service of collecting, transporting, and disposing of animal carcasses had an average monthly cost of R$ 20,325.19 (US$ 3,792), and the amount spent per kilogram of the animal’s weight was R$ 14.83/kg (US$ 2.76). Runovers occurred more frequently in regions with lower socioeconomic status (>90%) and non-fast roads (62.3%), considered, therefore, regions with a greater propensity to aggravations.