Dogs are huge threats to wildlife, especially endangered species and their habitats, according to a new report.
As companion animals, dogs spread with humans as they settle in new areas and often their populations grow out of control and strays wander freely.
A group of researchers from Utah State University studied the impact of free-roaming as well as feral dogs on wildlife and published their findings in the journal BioScience. They found that dogs were not only responsible for directly attacking other animals but were also transmitting diseases.
The researchers studied the behavior of wildlife toward dogs and the areas they frequent and also linked dogs to livestock killings, sometimes using genetic testing to prove that dogs had been responsible for killings previously thought to have been done by wolves.
Dr. Julie Young of USU led the researchers who said that humans often underestimate the effect that dogs have on the environment because we think of animals as our companions and not as an invasive species that we are introducing into a new ecosystem. But dogs accompany humans as we move into new areas and their impact is only now becoming understood.
Endangered species suffer most
Endangered species that are already vulnerable to the effects of human expansion are often the worst victims of dog attacks and dog-spread diseases.
Dr. Young first became interested in this issue after observing how dogs killed off endangered sheep and antelope in central Asia. She then expanded her studies globally and published her findings under the title “Is Wildlife Going to the Dogs?”
It is especially disturbing to read in her findings that dogs can cause more damage to livestock than apex predators like wolves when damage to livestock is often one of the main justification for hunters to conduct mass culls of wolves.
Tough facts that need to be considered
As much as we view dogs as our companion animals and as much as we care for them, we also have to consider the environmental impacts of introducing dogs to new areas. We have to be as responsible for how our companions affect other wildlife as we are for the other aspects of our expansion and sprawl.
Dr. Young says the most important thing we can do is to voluntarily implement common sense measures like dog training and vaccinations. We should also be vigilant about spaying and neutering pets to prevent unwanted litters that can become strays. Rampant breeding strays not only result in more feral dogs disrupting wildlife habitats but can also result in dogs being captured and euthanized by shelters or being killed by government agencies.
“It’s better for people to make the change instead of having it imposed on them,” says Dr. Young. If we want to prevent strays, mass euthanasia of homeless pet, and minimize the environmental impact of dogs we need to be responsible for the pets that come along as a component of our expansion.
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Idaho Refuses to Protect Endangered Wolves
Photo: Mattvey Andreyev
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