From: Methods used to estimate the size of the owned cat and dog population: a systematic review
Analytical/statistical methods used to determine pet population | Which studies used this method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|---|---|
Mean number of dogs/cats per household multiplied by the number of households in the area | Lengerich et al. [47] AVMA [1, 36] Butler and Bingham [19] Ortega-Pacheco et al. [51] | Simple method that does not require complex statistics. Does not rely on large sample sizes. | Prone to selection and measurement biases. |
Human density multiplied by number of dogs per human | Slater et al. [5] | Simple method that does not require complex statistics. Does not rely on large sample sizes. | Prone to selection and measurement biases. |
Calculations using predictors of ownership | Murray et al. [3] | Improves precision of the population estimates. | Requires large numbers of participants so may be more costly. Can be prone to measurement bias. |