Mainland Portugal has more than 930,000 stray animals, including 830,541 cats and 101,015 dogs, according to data from the first National Census of Stray Animals released this Friday by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests.
The 2023 National Census of Wandering Animals was developed by the University of Aveiro for the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) and financed by the Environmental Fund.
Data from the Republican National Guard (GNR), compiled in the study and related to road accidents, reveal that 4,640 pedestrian accidents were reported, including 4,443 dogs and 197 cats between 2019 and 2022, with 2020 being the year in which the most pedestrian accidents were reported ( 1,428 and 84, respectively).
As for stray cats, only 5.3% of respondents report that they have felt physically threatened and 5.9% have actually been attacked. .
With regard to providing care to these felines, 83.4% of respondents have already provided food, 78.6% water, 48.3% shelter, and 14.1% have provided other care.
As for stray dogs, 27.2% of respondents report feeling physically threatened by a stray dog, of which 7.2% have already been attacked.
More than two thirds (70.5%) of respondents have provided food for stray dogs, 65.2% have provided water, 37.1% have provided shelter, and 17.1% have provided other care.
This study also states that cat owners have lower levels of responsibility than dog owners, especially in terms of individual identification and access to the outside without supervision.
The majority (26.8%) only had one or two cats, but some had three (17.2%), four (7.8%), five (5.4%), or more than five (14.7%). %), the main reason being the company (78%).
“Obtaining cats was reported as being mainly from found animals (68.6%), adopted from shelters (29.5%) or offered by friends or family (19.6%)”, according to data.
A small proportion of respondents report purchasing animals from breeders (4%) via the internet (3.8%), or by own breeding (2.7%).
Dogs, on the other hand, register high rates of responsible ownership: 92% of owners identify and register all their animals and 92% never allow access to the outside without supervision, while 25% report that they do not use any form of contraception on their animals and 28% report that they have already hunted. .
The majority of respondents had only one (45.2%) or two (24.1%) dogs and the main motivation for keeping dogs was companionship (88%).
Approximately one in four people (23.9%) purchased animals from breeders (17.2%), via the internet (5.3%) or in pet stores (1.4%).
As part of this study, the Errantes application was also created, which allows each user to record their data and the data of their pets, as well as sightings of animals that roam freely, or of prey captured by animals with or without a keeper.
