Why "wtf?" They don't have stray dogs everywhere. They don't exist here in Japan; any stray dogs are seized, and presumably euthanized. Why have nuisance animals roaming around that cause a lot of problems and attack people? Do you think it's somehow a good thing to have stray dogs? wtf?
This is exactly why stray dogs shouldn't be allowed to exist. They're a threat to the community. We don't have them at all here in Japan, as far as I can tell; we do have real wild animals, like bears and boars, that sometimes threaten and attack people, but that's normally only in rural places, and those are actual wild animals, not feral pets or invasive species. We also have stray cats, but while one might argue those are a threat to some native animal species like birds, they're certainly not a threat to humans.
Stray dogs are a real issue in developing countries like Russia and India. They can be aggressive since they're wild animals.
Even if they're not killed, the strays have fight for survival on their own. Even in developed countries like the US, there are more dogs that need to be adopted than people to adopt them, so many are left in shelters and some are euthanized because the shelters don't have enough resources to care for them.
I’ve never seen stray dogs in the US while living here and I haven’t seen stray dogs in the 6-7 Western and Southern European countries I’ve traveled to.
I don’t think there’s anything remarkable about no stray dogs in the UK. Further, since dogs don’t breed as rapidly as other stray animals (especially cats) and also have far shorter lifespans, there are far easier and far more humane ways and of eliminating stray dogs without mass killing them.
The few times I've been to some Eastern European countries, the street dogs were indeed not an issue. Just unsightly. They are actually useful as they get rid of carcasses of other dead animals (pigeons, rats, etc.) on the streets.
However, there are countries where the street dog population is way higher and attacks and rabies are a real problem. When these countries take action, they often mass-cull the dogs. In Bhutan's case, the dogs aren't going anywhere. The 100% number is simply not believable and soon there will be again a small, but manageable population.
As the article neglects to mention, stray dogs are a huge problem in Turkey. My wife is Turkish and we travel a lot to Turkey. They unfortunately exist in every single place. In Istanbul they are not such a big problem because you have so many other prople around you.
But as soon as you you get to other cities it’s less fun. As a person that likes to jog in the morning I had stop and turn around and slowly walk away too many times. Some angry, mentally unstable, dog would block the way. Sometimes they chase you. I have seen other runners being chased and bitten by dogs. Especially in the morning they get aggressive. I have also seen packs of dogs attacking normal dogs in leaches. Of course they also carry rabies.
According to my wife stray dogs were not so common when she was young, but the population has exploded since then. She and her mother also dislikes them.
It doesn’t help that there is almost no one working on the problem. I know Istanbul has some organisation that will vaccinate and neuter stray dogs. Otherwise locals seems to have some twisted sense of animal wellfare going where they believe putting a domesticated dog on the street is an ok thing to do, since other locals will take care of it. Never mind they get malnourished, get aggressive and are obviously completely unstable mentally. A broken leg, an infected wound? Who cares, as long as they can roam around free and multiply as much as they want.
I have no idea how this became the norm but I really hope it will change!
In India, it's because a very prominent MP (and aunt of INC Rahul Gandhi / daughter in law of former PM Indira Gandhi) in the BJP is a massive dog lover and militantly opposed to regulating the stray population. [0][1]
I found the same in Sofia, Bulgaria. It's alright in the heavily populated areas, but the area I was staying in had large packs of stray dogs and the nearby park was full of them.
To be fair, I'm shocked that so many people trust strangers to walk their dogs. That's insanity and no wonder they get so much hate press. Unsustainable and we're just a few escaped/dead/stolen dogs away from them imploding completely.
It's worth noting that unlike other countries, you won't find stray dogs in the UK.
I have lived in 5 different countries, and I have not noticed significant numbers of stray dogs in any of them (I am sure the number is technically non-zero, but I never saw them). I have visited many more countries, and I have only ever really seen stray dogs in Costa Rica. YMMV.
In some countries, dog owners don’t give a shit and let their dogs poop everywhere (France for example).
Many dog owners can’t handle their dogs.
Dogs are scary for some people, especially children. Most dog owners don’t understand this and say "it’s a good dog, he doesn’t do anything" instead of doing the only sane thing: "you’re scared? I take the dog away".
It only takes one dick owner with a dick dog to instill fear in people (children) with significant and long-lasting consequences for their lives.
So yeah, some dogs are cute and whatnot, but unless you have a remote ranch or a huge property, and dogs can be dogs there, we actually need less dogs.
I'm an American dog lover, and was surprised when all of my Vietnamese-family-by-marriage voiced similar perspectives. Stray dogs were a serious, common threat that could kill you.
Stray dogs living in packs would certainly prefer to have regular meals and a shelter and not to be hunted down by people, but they're just fine without humans "owners". It's the humans who have problems with them.
There's definitely stray dogs in the US. It probably varies a bit by location though. I've not seen any in an urban area but plenty of rural areas have them running around, sometimes in packs.
We also came across them from time to time in Afghanistan.
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