Mahsa Tahergorabi, Fatemeh Sadat Hosseini, Zahra Izadi Yazdanabadi, Moazeme Soltaninejad, Gholam Ali Haghighat,
Volume 19, Issue 1 (6-2026)
Abstract
Background and Objective: Stray dogs are a serious problem in urban and rural environments that, in addition to posing a risk of bites and transmitting rabies, have significant health, environmental, and even economic consequences for society. The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of stray dogs and the factors affecting their population and control programs.
Materials and Methods: This review study was conducted by determining keywords and defining a search protocol to find articles related to the study objective. Using the search protocol, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were searched. The articles were screened in three stages by the authors, and finally 50 articles were selected for inclusion in this study.
Results: The results showed that bacterial and parasitic diseases transmitted from stray dogs to humans were a serious concern in the studies. Rabies and injuries caused by dog bites were also considered in researches. The impact of stray dogs on other animals and owner dogs, as well as the impact of the presence of these animals in indirectly transmitting the disease to humans, were important studied aspects in researches. In addition, in this study, the factors affecting the population of stray dogs and their control strategies were categorized and discussed.
Conclusion: Stray dogs have consequences beyond the prevalence of rabies in society. There are also several factors that affect the population of these animals and the success of their control methods, which should be introduced to citizens and urban management decision-makers and considered.
