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In Bolivia, the day of the San Roque is also the feast of dogs since this saint is there the patron saint of our dog friends. But in La Paz, the administrative capital, dogs become a problem in terms of health and safety: they are several hundred thousand stray dogs in the streets of the city, with all that implies problems.
The estimation, without a lot of details, of the number of dogs in the capital would be about 400 000 stray dogs in La Paz and the nearby town of El Alto. For public health reasons, the WHO recommends 1 dog per 10 inhabitants. Here, the number is rather 3 dogs for 10 inhabitants, and 4 at the national level.
The authorities face a real health problem. Dogs walk in packs, they are sometimes aggressive, they open garbage cans, and more importantly, they can be rabies. Every year in Bolivia, several hundred cases of canine rabies are detected, sometimes transmitted to humans , there were 8 deaths in 2017.
The old town halls
Town halls charged with managing the problem are in fact a little overwhelmed by the scale of the phenomenon, they often do not have the budget to react effectively. So, there are vaccination campaigns against rabies street dogs, but it's far from enough. In La Paz, the authorities have not been euthanizing systematically since 2015.
►Also read: Around the question - Why does the history of dogs also tell the story of our humanity?
This was denounced by the associations, who spoke of a " biocide " . And indeed, these animal welfare organizations are addressing the weaknesses of municipalities and are responsible for the care, sterilization and adoption of these street dogs, which have been abandoned, lost, or sometimes caught in a natural disaster, a landslide or a flood.
Stray dogs ... with owner
Even in some neighborhoods of La Paz, there are dogs called " community " that is to say that the neighbors install a niche, give them food, sometimes put a coat for winter and bring them to the home. veterinarian when needed.
But obviously not everything is so rosy and, it is the height, the associations reveal that in reality 80% of stray dogs have an owner, irresponsible, that is to say, who leaves his dog in the street all day, which gives him little or no food, an animal that is obviously neither vaccinated nor sterilized.