American Strays Canine Survey
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The World Animal Awareness Society believes that responsibility for dog population management resides with local and / or federal government. Animal welfare NGOs should not be encouraged to take on the authority’s overall responsibility for dog population management other than through a contractual agreement, and with appropriate funding and resources. However, animal welfare NGOs play an important role in guiding and supporting government strategy, so it is important for such organizations to have an understanding of all the components of a comprehensive strategy. This will enable each local authority to target their support where it can be most effective and to make the best use of limited resources.
The following criteria are considered when a city is chosen to be surveyed: - Large Urban / City Space - High Instance of Dog Bites - Roaming or Loose Dogs - Known Dog Fighting - Low Spay & Neuter # - Backyard Dog Breeding - Multiple Authorized Agents - Frequent Abuse Reports - Frequent Neglect Reports - General Media Awareness - Social Media Awareness - Increase in Animal NGO’s - High Surrender to Shelter
AMERICAN STRAYS - A COUNT OF STRAY DOGS IN AMERICA!
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The 1st American Strays Canine Survey took place Saturday & Sunday September 21 & 22, 2013 in the city of Detroit.
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The 2013 American Strays Canine Survey Poster and some images from the old method of surveying dogs from 2013.
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During the inaugural American Strays Canine Survey that took place in Detroit, MI over the weekend of September 21 & 22, 2013, volunteer citizen scientists (Observers) used tracking software to track their movements. OSMTracker, a free app for Droid, was used to create this map.
OSMTracker allows the observer to record their tracks and include various media (photos, audio, notes) which is embedded (geo-tagged) into the overall track as way-points. This data is analyzed and used to reconcile the random points the observer looks for within each region as well as have an accurate location for each Dog spotted. |
The World Animal Awareness Society science team is using new digital tools during the stray Dog survey portion of this study to measure the "free-roaming" dog population In the fall of 2013. Dozens of teams of volunteers will be led in a two day survey using inexpensive - to free handheld technologies to monitor 1 of 42 regions of Detroit for stray dogs. These volunteers will receive training before the survey day in the smartphone applications that are being used and the data from the smartphone will be received upon the discovery of each dog. Some of the technology being used is shown in the images to the left and below.
OSMTracker: records all locational information of a user directly to one database on a second by second basis. Data collectors and users, to ensure correct census location, will monitor the grid system set in place during the census on OSM maps. OSM will transmit location at all times, and more specifically provide coordinates anytime a user takes a photo, video, or voice recording.
DogDensity Database*: the details of the routes and surveys are recorded in the storage area from the OSMTracker information. This database will store and organize the data and be accessible to future organizations as a template for the census.
DogDensity Database*: the details of the routes and surveys are recorded in the storage area from the OSMTracker information. This database will store and organize the data and be accessible to future organizations as a template for the census.
