An estimated 200 million stray dogs live globally. Population management approaches range from inhumane mass culling to evidence-based humane programmes. Understanding which approaches work is critical for both welfare and public health.
Stray dog welfare involves both the suffering of individual dogs — from disease, injury, starvation, and persecution — and public health consequences for communities living alongside large stray populations. Culling operations cause acute suffering and are repeatedly documented as ineffective, yet persist in many jurisdictions because they are cheaper in the short term than investment in sterilisation and vaccination infrastructure. Humane population management requires sustained investment over years before results are measurable. This timeline is politically difficult but represents the only approach with evidence of long-term effectiveness. Supporting organisations building this capacity in high-burden countries is among the highest-impact stray dog welfare interventions available.