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Table 2 Characteristics of the seven studies included in the final analysis of a systematic review examining methods to estimate owned dog and cat populations

From: Methods used to estimate the size of the owned cat and dog population: a systematic review

Paper

Aim

Data collection method

Setting

Calculations

AVMA [36]

No aim stated.

Questionnaire mailed to a random selection of potential participants from a list supplied by a commercial company.

National population of the United States of America

Mean number of pets per pet owning household multiplied by (the proportion of pet owning households from the survey by the number of households from National statistics).

Dogs = 52.9 million

Cats = 59.1 million

AVMA [1]

No aim stated.

Questionnaire mailed to a random selection of potential participants from a list supplied by a commercial company.

National population of the United States of America

Mean number of pets per pet owning household multiplied by (the proportion of pet owning households from the survey by the number of households from National statistics).

Dogs = 69.926 million

Cats = 74.059 million

Butler and Bingham [19]

To provide baseline data on the demography and ecology of the dog population in communal lands in Zimbabwe.

Door to door survey.

National population of Zimbabwe. Seven communal lands surveyed: Ngorima, Soswe, Kandeya, Gokwe, Tsholotsho, Dande, Mtetengwe

Average number of dogs per capita from the survey multiplied by the number of people in Zimbabwe from human statistics.

Dogs = 1.36 million

Lengerich et al. [47]

To apply a random-digit dial telephone survey method for estimating the owned canine and feline populations, and estimate the proportion of dogs and cats with cancer.

Random-digit dial telephone survey.

Population of Marion and Tippecanoe counties of Indiana.

Total number of dogs and cats from the survey by the inverse of the sample fraction from the human census.

Cats:

Marion = 94,998 (74,348 to 115,648)

Tippecanoe = 17,165 (12,569 to 21,761)

Dogs:

Marion = 144,039 (121,55 to

166,523)

Tippecanoe = 18,000 (14,445 to 21,555)

Murray et al. [3]

To identify characteristics of dog-owning and cat-owning households from a large cross-sectional study and to use these data to estimate the size of the dog and cat populations in the UK, using a method that could easily be repeated to enable pet ownership trends to be monitored.

Telephone survey of a random selection of telephone numbers from a commercially available list of numbers.

National population of the United Kingdom

The predicted cat and dog numbers for each category in the size of the household by the location were calculated from logistic regression of the data from the survey and multiplied by the number of households within each category from national statistics.

Cats = 10,332,955 (9,395,642 to 11,270,269)

Dogs = 10,522,186 (9,623,618 to 11,420,755)

Ortega-Pacheco et al. [51]

To generate information regarding the size and structure of the owned-dog populations, and learn about people’s opinions about their dogs and how they take care of them in three rural areas and a large city of Yucatan, Mexico.

Random-digit dial telephone survey in one large urban area and door to door survey in three rural areas.

Three rural areas (Molas, Dzununczn and San Jose Tzal) and one urban area (Merida city) in Yucatan state, Mexico.

Mean number of dogs per household from the survey multiplied by the number of households from National statistics.

Molas = 568.5

Dzununczn = 560

San Jose Tzal = 844.5

Merida = 1163

Slater et al. [5]

To document the owned pet population size and type including reproduction and dog registration.

Telephone survey of a random selection of telephone numbers from a commercially available list of numbers.

Province of Teramo, Italy

Mean number of pets per pet owning household by the proportion of pet owning households from the survey multiplied by the number of households from National statistics.

Cats = 37,081

Dogs = 67,183