Around 800 million dogs (range 700 million to 1 billion) share our world, about 300 million of whom are “homeless.” These dogs have high mortality rates, especially their puppies, the majority of whom do not survive their first year of life. “Homeless” or street dogs are primarily found in human communities scavenging for food and sheltering wherever they can. They carry a heavy parasite burden, and when such a dog gets ill or is injured, it will not receive any health care. WBI’s Global GDC Team includes recruited experts in their fields with years of field experience and a dedication to the mission to improve the outlook for and the lives of these 300 million homeless dogs across the globe. The team’s mission is to ensure that these homeless dogs are more likely to experience the benefits of being humankind’s “best friends.”

WBI aims to track approaches that reduce populations of homeless dogs and encourage greater care for dogs in countries worldwide. While a few dog management projects have achieved and reported impressive results, most do not report their impact across multiple years. WBI, with its Consortium Implementing Partners (CIPs), will establish demonstration sites that include support for vaccinations & sterilizations, street dog surveys, and the development of multi-year data sets and analysis. These sites will test and then showcase the most effective strategies that improve dog and community well-being.

While there are an estimated 300 million “homeless” dogs, the term is surprisingly challenging to define.  Many dogs observed on the streets may be claimed by a particular household. For example, one study found that over 90% of dogs on the street in two Balinese villages and two South African townships were claimed to be “theirs” by specific households.  Still, the dogs lived on the streets and rarely received any treatment for disease or injury. After much consideration, WBI defines a homeless dog as spending most of its time on the streets and receiving little to no health care.

For this Campaign, WBI defines a homeless dog as one that spends most or all its time on the streets and receives little to no health care.  Studies indicate such homeless dogs receive most of their food from specific human handouts (garbage on the street has limited nutritional value).  Thus, the defining features of dog homelessness are a life on the streets and little or no veterinary care provided by humans.

Homeless dogs, or street dogs, experience high incidences of disease and injury, and their lives are much shorter than those of pet (“homed”) dogs. Such dogs are usually not provided safe shelter, and a specific household does not significantly control their behavior. These dogs are often not vaccinated against rabies or other diseases and lack basic veterinary care. Sadly, approximately 75% of puppies born to homeless dogs die before they are a year old.

Homeless dogs may also adversely affect communities. Challenges include dog bites, rabies, other diseases, and harassment of people, domestic animals, and wildlife. Also, programs to manage homeless dogs usually do not sufficiently engage local stakeholders and animal advocates and often opt for short-term and non-sustainable methods.

Most of the world’s homeless dogs live in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Even though a substantial majority of these homeless dogs may be claimed (i.e., loosely “owned”) by specific households in the community, these dogs cause multiple problems for the community (e.g., nuisance, bites, disease, etc.). There are few homeless dogs in high-income countries.  The relative populations of dogs (including both homed and homeless) vary widely globally, as indicated in the interactive global map below.