Demographic characterization of the dog population in Viña del Mar, Chile

Abstract

The high population of dogs living in the streets, specially in tourist destinations such as Viña del Mar represents a problem that requires to study some of the characteristics of this population, starting with the dogs that have an owner. A random survey sample of 861 households proportionally stratified according to the number of households in twelve locations of the city was carried out. The information was gathered by handing a questionnaire survey to house owners. Total population was estimated in 100,717 dogs with 95% confidence limits of 92,961 and 108,463; there was an average of 0.95 dogs per household, sex ratio was 1.6 males per 1 female, mean age was 4 years and 7 months, and human-dog ratio was 4.1 people per dog. The crude rate of fertility was 39.1%, and general fertility rate was 115.1%; the total fertility rate shows that every female rears 10 puppies during her reproductive life. The mortality rate was 23%. The growth rate was 8.2% and the turnover rate was 25%.