Animals on the streets often face starvation, injury, abuse or even death. Dogs are responsible for most cases of rabies transmission to humans and both dogs and cats can spread a host of other diseases. Free-roaming dogs also freely mate, leading to unwanted litters of puppies that find their way into the cycle of ongoing street animals. A community’s population of free-roaming animals is both an animal welfare and public health and safety problem. Governments, whose responsibility it is to safeguard public health and safety, often lack the resources and/or expertise to develop and implement humane and effective programs to manage dog and cat populations.

An added challenge to adequate dog and cat welfare is a lack of training opportunities for veterinarians. In addition, access and affordable veterinary services can be difficult to find and individuals may lack an understanding of the welfare needs of pets and free-roaming animals in their community. Adoption of homeless dogs and cats is still a relatively new concept in many countries.  As a result of political, cultural, economic and geographic factors, multi- faceted solutions are urgently needed.