Environmental and Animal Sciences Lecturer Glenn Aguilar recently travelled to Tonga to conduct a survey of dog numbers, part of a South Pacific Animal Welfare (SPAW) spaying and neutering initiative, with funding provided by Dogs Trust UK.
Glenn became involved in the dog survey through our relationship with SPAW, who also provide the opportunity for staff and students in our veterinary programme travel to Tonga each year to deliver veterinary services.
Glenn’s grant was to survey a specific area of Tonga so SPAW could begin planning for their de-sexing programme.
Glenn Aguilar with friends at Holtys, a popular spot
Glenn prepared a map and set up his online data collection programme before flying to the largest of Tonga’s islands, Tongatapu, for three days. He focused on a collection of 12 towns on the Northwestern tip, driving along the dusty roads on the lookout for dogs.
Where possible, Glenn recorded data about each dog such as sex, condition and size.
“I took photos and uploaded all of the data to the exact location on the map so we could develop a picture of where the dogs were located in each town. The data gives statistics such as the ratio of dog to human ration and dog to kilometre.”
Dogs being fed by the local community
The Tongan Ministry of Agriculture provided three assistants to help Glenn with the work. They initially attempted to do the counting on foot in an initial pilot survey last December 2017 but found that some dogs were aggressive.
“Dogs are territorial so we found we couldn’t go on foot. Even inside the car, we kept the windows shut because the dogs sometimes approached us” said Glenn.
Glenn recorded if a dog appeared to be pregnant or nursing, presuming there was a litter of puppies hidden nearby that he couldn’t see. He also found large groups of dogs in some locations, where the local people were feeding them.
The data that Glenn has provided will assist SPAW in implementing the de-sexing programme beginning in March 2020 with a goal to desex between 70-80% of the surveyed area where an estimated 1,500 dogs co-habitate.