Free-ranging dog

A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 700-900 million, of which approximately 75% are classified as free-ranging.

Free-ranging dogs are common in developing countries. It is estimated that there are about 62 million free-ranging dogs in India. In Western countries free-ranging dogs are rare; in Europe they are primarily found in parts of Eastern Europe, and, to a lesser extent, in parts of Southern Europe.

Free-ranging dogs survive by adapting to their environment through scavenging through uncollected food waste, hunting small animals, consuming carrion and road kill, or being fed by people.

The free-ranging dogs from South Asia, where these animals are very common, are often referred to as pye-dogs. The Indian pariah dog is a landrace of the Indian subcontinent and is often found in the form of street dogs, although some Indian pariah dogs are owned, including by the police.

Various human organizations work to manage free-ranging dogs, citing concerns about the spread of rabies, the animals' welfare, and other areas. These include governments, animal rights organizations and other non-governmental organizations, and veterinarians. Some governments have dog-management policies, including trap–neuter–return, the permanent removal of dogs from the streets and their indefinite housing in animal shelters, their (national or international) adoption, or their euthanasia.

Origin

Dogs living with humans is a dynamic relationship, with a large proportion of the dog population losing contact with humans at some stage over time. This loss of contact first occurred after domestication and has reoccurred throughout history.

The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million and rising. Although it is said that the "dog is man's best friend" for the 17–24% of dogs that live as pets in the developed countries, in the developing world pet dogs are uncommon but there are many village, community or feral dogs. Most of these dogs live out their lives as scavengers and have never been owned by humans, with one study showing their most common response when approached by strangers is to run away (52%) or respond aggressively (11%). Little is known about these dogs, or the dogs in developed countries that are feral, stray or that are in shelters, as the majority of modern research on dog cognition has focused on pet dogs living in human homes.

Factors leading to stray dogs

Stray dogs are dogs without an owner. While the term stray dog is sometimes used to refer specifically to dogs which have been lost, in a more general sense a stray dog is any unowned free-ranging dog. Four Paws defines stray animals as "those animals who are either born on the streets or have become homeless due to abandonment". Several factors lead to the existence of stray dogs. In some cases, the problem originates in the past, with the dogs having lived on the streets for many generations. Such dogs are born on the streets, having never been owned, and live in a feral or semi-feral state. Other stray dogs have been previously owned and ended on the streets because they were abandoned by their owners, either at birth (when the owners could not accommodate a litter) or at a later time, especially if the owners faced economic challenges, lifestyle changes, or health issues. Some owners abandon their working dogs if they are dissatisfied with their performance. Dogs can also end up as strays in cases of natural disasters, armed conflicts or other calamities.

Categories of dogs

There is confusion with the terms used to categorize dogs. Dogs can be classed by whether they possess an owner or a community of owners, how freely they can move around, and any genetic differences they have from other dog populations due to long-term separation.

Family dogs

Also known as "owned dogs". They have an identifiable human associate, are commonly socialized, and are not allowed to roam. They are restricted to particular outdoor or indoor areas. They have little impact on wildlife unless going with humans into natural areas.

Domestic dogs are all dog breeds (other than dingoes) selectively bred, kept and fed by humans. They can be pets, guard dogs, livestock guardian dogs or working dogs. Domestic dogs may also behave like wild dogs if they are not adequately controlled or are free roaming.

Free-ranging owned dogs

A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging owned dogs are cared for by one owner or a community of owners, and are able to roam freely. This includes "village dogs", which live in rural areas and human habitations. These are not confined. However, they rarely leave the village vicinity. This also includes "rural free-ranging dogs", which also live in rural areas and human habitations. These are owned or are associated with homes, and they are not confined. These include farm and pastoral dogs that range over particular areas.

Free-ranging unowned dogs

Free-ranging unowned dogs are stray dogs. They get their food and shelter from human environments, but they have not been socialized and so they avoid humans as much as possible. Free-ranging unowned dogs include "street dogs", which live in cities and urban areas. These have no owner but are commensals, subsisting on left over food from human, garbage or other dogs' food as their primary food sources. Free-ranging unowned dogs also include feral dogs.

Feral dogs

The term "feral" can be used to describe those animals that have been through the process of domestication but have returned to a wild state. "Domesticated" and "socialized" (tamed) do not mean the same thing, as it is possible for an individual animal of a domesticated species to be feral and not tame, and it is possible for an individual animal of a wild species to be socialized to live with humans.

Feral dogs differ from other dogs because they did not have close human contact early in their lives (socialization). Feral dogs live in a wild state with no food and shelter intentionally provided by humans and show a continuous and strong avoidance of direct human contact. The distinction between feral, stray, and free-ranging dogs is sometimes a matter of degree, and a dog may shift its status throughout its life. In some unlikely but observed cases, a feral dog that was not born wild but lived with a feral group can become rehabilitated to a domestic dog with an owner. A dog can become a stray when it escapes human control, by abandonment or being born to a stray mother. A stray dog can become feral when it is forced out of the human environment or when it is co-opted or socially accepted by a nearby feral group. Feralization occurs by the development of a fear response to humans. Feral dogs are not reproductively self-sustaining, suffer from high rates of juvenile mortality, and depend indirectly on humans for their food, their space, and the supply of co-optable individuals.

"Wild" dogs

The existence of "wild dogs" is debated. Some authors propose that this term applies to the Australian dingo and dingo-feral dog hybrids. They believe that these have a history of independence from humans and should no longer be considered as domesticated. Others disagree, and propose that the dingo was once domesticated and is now a feral dog.

Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries defines wild dogs as any dogs that are not domesticated, which includes dingoes, feral dogs and hybrids. Yearling wild dogs frequently disperse more than 100 km (62 mi) from the place where they were born.

The first British colonists to arrive in Australia established a settlement at Port Jackson in 1788 and recorded dingoes living there with indigenous Australians. Although the dingo exists in the wild, it associates with humans but has not been selectively bred as have other domesticated animals. The dingo's relationship with indigenous Australians can be described as commensalism, in which two organisms live in close association but without depending on each other for survival. They will hunt and sleep together. The dingo is therefore comfortable enough around humans to associate with them, but can still live independently, much like the domestic cat. Any free-ranging unowned dog can be socialized to become an owned dog, as some dingoes do when they join human families.

Another point of view regards domestication as a process that is difficult to define. It regards dogs as being either socialized and able to exist with humans, or unsocialized. Some dogs live with their human families but are unsocialized and will treat strangers aggressively and defensively as might a wild wolf. Wild wolves have approached people in remote places, attempting to get them to play and to form companionship.