Scoping review of indicators and methods of measurement used to evaluate the impact of dog population management interventions

Elly Hiby, Kate Nattrass Atema, Rebecca Brimley, Alexandra Hammond-Seaman, Mark Jones, Andrew Rowan, Emelie Fogelberg, Mark Kennedy, Deepashree Balaram, Louis Nel, Sarah Cleaveland, Katie Hampson, Sunny Townsend, Tiziana Lembo, Nicola Rooney, Helen Rebecca Whay, Joy Pritchard, Jane Murray, Lisa van Dijk, Natalie Waran, Heather Bacon, Darryn Knobel, Lou Tasker, Chris Baker, Lex Hiby

Dogs are ubiquitous in human society and attempts to manage their populations are common to most countries. Managing dog populations is achieved through a range of interventions to suit the dog population dynamics and dog ownership characteristics of the location, with a number of potential impacts or goals in mind. Impact assessment provides the opportunity for interventions to identify areas of inefficiencies for improvement and build evidence of positive change. This scoping review collates 26 studies that have assessed the impacts of dog population management interventions. It reports the use of 29 indicators of change under 8 categories of impact and describes variation in the methods used to measure these indicators. The relatively few published examples of impact assessment in dog population management suggest this field is in its infancy; however this review highlights those notable exceptions. By describing those indicators and methods of measurement that have been reported thus far, and apparent barriers to efficient assessment, this review aims to support and direct future impact assessment.