Managing stray dog populations humanely is a major global public health and animal welfare challenge, with evidence increasingly supporting non-lethal approaches.
Stray dogs occupy a complex space between wild and domestic, often suffering significantly while also posing genuine public health risks. Lethal control programs are cruel and ineffective — population vacuums are rapidly refilled by reproduction. Evidence-based management combines TNVR to stabilise populations, vaccination to eliminate rabies, and community education to improve treatment of owned dogs. The welfare of individual stray dogs — who may suffer chronic hunger, injury and disease — deserves direct attention alongside population management strategies.