Evaluating the contact rate between companion dogs during dog walking and the practices towards potential cases of rabies among dog owners in Japan. (27th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kwan, Nigel C. L.; Inoue, Mai; Yamada, Akio; Sugiura, Katsuaki
• Is Part Of: Zoonoses and public health. Volume 66:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 393
• Page End: 400
• Publication Date: 2019-02-27
• Subjects: contact -- dog walking -- Japan -- practices -- rabies -- survey; Zoonoses -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; 636.0896959
• DOI: 10.1111/zph.12573
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1863-1959

Abstract

Abstract: This study aimed to examine the habits of dog walking in Japan using an internet survey of insured dog owners. About 96.4% of the respondents ( n = 1, 151) reported that they would take their dogs for a walk and they most frequently walk their dogs once or twice a day (75.9%) for 30 min to 1 hr (83.1%). The probability of a companion dog having contact with other dogs during dog walking was estimated to be 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81–0.85), and the associated daily contact rate was estimated using log‐normal distribution with a mean of 2.73 (95% CI: 2.42–3.11) and a standard deviation ( SD ) of 6.39 (95% CI: 5.18–7.84). Multiple linear regression revealed that the contact rate is mainly influenced by the social behaviour of the owner and to a lesser degree by his/her demographic characteristics including the area of residence, the breed size of dog and the age of the owner. In addition, ten Likert items measured on a 5‐point scale were designed to assess the practices towards potential cases of rabies among dog owners. The respondents ( n = 972) achieved a mean score of 2.99 (out of a full score of 4) with a SD of 0.90 in responding to situations related to dog bite incidents and injury from stray cat scratches during dog walking. They achieved a higher score in responding to situations related to sighting a stray or wild animal during dog walking and situations related to non‐specific clinical signs of rabies and bite injuries from stray dogs or wild animals during dog walking with a mean of 3.70 ( SD = 0.58) and 3.84 ( SD = 0.34), respectively. The level of best practice was also proved to be significantly associated with the demographic characteristics of the dog owner.