Animal welfare considerations are becoming increasingly important for farming of animals, both in Tunisia and internationally. Practices which may have once been deemed acceptable are now being reassessed in the light of new knowledge and changing attitudes. And a clearly defined concept of welfare is needed for use in precise scientific measurements. If animal welfare is to be compared in diff...

The existence of free-roaming dogs raises important issues in animal welfare and in public health. A proper understanding of these animals' ecology is useful as a necessary input to plan strategies to control these populations. The present study addresses the population dynamics and the effectiveness of the sterilization of unrestricted dogs using capture and recapture procedures suitable for o...

Lymphatic filariasis is a debilitating disease attaching social stigma to afflicted people living in most of the tropical countries in the world. Globally about 120 million people are affected with the disease of which one-third live in India alone. With the recent advancement in diagnostic and control tools, the hope for the control of filariasis is expanding. However, due to the complex natur...

OBJECTIVE Given the importance of assessing owned dog and cat populations to adequate planning and evaluation of rabies control measures in urban areas, it is proposed the use of an estimate of these populations based on human population parameters. METHODS The ratio between human population and owned animal (dogs and cats) population was calculated in the municipality of Taboão da Serra, sta...

Disease and pathogens have been studied as regulators of animal populations but not really as selective forces. I propose that pathogens can be major selective forces influencing social behaviors when these are successful at reducing disease transmission. The behaviors whose evolution could have been influenced by pathogen effects include group size, group isolation, mixed species flocking, mig...