References Aucoin DP, Hardie L, Cohn L, Amstrong JP. Bunch S and Breiuchwerdt

Bennett D and Taylor DJ (1987) J S m f f A n h Prucr 29347 Berkelman RL, Lewin S, Allen JR. Anderson RL, Budnick LD er uf (1981)

Brain PH (1985)Awr Vet Prucf 16175 BuchananREand Gibbons NE (1974)InBergey’sMunuf of Deferminutive

Calvert. CA and Dow SW (1990) In Infecfious Direares of the Dog and Cat.

CalvertCA,GreeneCEandHardieEM(1985)JAmVetMedAssoc 187612 Calter GRandChengappaMM (1991)InEsrenfiafsofVcterinuryEacteridogy

und Mycology. 4th edn, Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia. p 165 Cross MR. Cooper JE and Needham JR (1975)JComp Purhol85:445 Dow SW and Jones RL (1989) Comp Conf Educ Prucr Ver 11:432 DowSW.CurtisCR, JcnesRLand Wingfield WE (1989)JAmVetMedAssoc

Garvey MS and Aucoin DP (1984) J Am Vet Med Assoc 185 1185 Goldmann DA and Pier GB (1993) Clin Microbiof Rev 6176 Hardie EM, Rawlings CA and Calvert CA (1986) J Am Anim Hosp Assoc

Hirsch DC (1990) InReviewofVeteriMryMicrobiofogy, edited by Biberstein

Hirsch DC. Jang SS and Biberstein EL (1984)JAm Ver Med Assoc 184175 Kasari TR and Roussel AJ (1989) Comp Conf Educ Prucf Vet 11:655 Kreger BE, Craven DE, Carling F‘C and McCabe WR (1980) Am J Med

McGregor AR and Collignon PJ (1993)MedJAwt 158:671 Onini JA and Perkons S (1992) Comp Conf Educ Pruct Ver 1 4 1491 Ozaki K, Inoue A, Atobe H. Takahashi E and Konishi S (1990) Jpn J Ver Sci

Roberts FJ. Geere TW and Coldrnan A (1991) RevInfDir 1334 Salman MB, Isenberg HD and Rubin LG (1993) J Clin Microbiof 31:475 Taboada J and Meyer DJ (1989) J Vet Inr Med3:216 Timoney JF, GiUespie JH. Scott FW and Barlough JE (1988) In Hugunand

Bruner’s Microbiology and Infectious Diseuses of Domsric Animals, 8th edn, Ccmstock, Ithaca, pp 1,35

E (199O)JVef Inf Med4:llO

Ann Int Med 95: 32

Bacteriology, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, p 217

edited by Greene CE, Saunden, Philadelphia, p 97

195113

22:33

EL and Zee YC. Blackwell, Boston, p 130

68332

52:233

Utili R, Abemathy C and Zimmerman H (1977)Jlnfecf Dis 136583 Walker RD. Stein GE, Hauptman JG, M a c h a l d KH, Budsberg SC and

Zanotti S. Kaplan P, Garlick D and Lamb C (1989) J Am Anim Hosp Assoc

(Accepted for publication 21 September 1993)

Rosser EJ (1990)AmJ Vet Res 515396

25557

Dog and cat keeping in the Australian Capital Territory, 1993

National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University, GPO Box 4, Canberra, Australian Capital Temtory 2601

DW PAXTON

Data on pet keeping is useful for several purposes, including guiding the allocation of resources for managing dogs and cats in the urban environment. There is limited readily accessible and comparable information on dog and cat keeping in Australia. The Roy Morgan Research Centre has conducted surveys on a com- mercial basis for over a decade (Tony Cooke, personal commu- nication). Information on dog and cat keeping may become available from these surveys as secondary data, for example, see Parliament of Victoria (1989). South Australian Government (1992) and Harlock Jackson et a1 (1993). The Roy Morgan Research Centre data cited by Harlock Jackson et a1 (1993) suggest that the Australian population of dogs kept is about 3 million and 37% of households have one or more dogs, while the Australian population of cats kept is about 2.7 million and 30% of households have one or more cats.

Other surveys have been reported in secondary sources. For example, Murray and Penridge (1992) refer to a survey of 400 households in Townsville in 1986, which showed that one in every two households kept at least one dog, and the survey allowed an estimate of 13 300 dogs in Townsville or one dog per 6.2residents. Mansfield (1992) refers to Logancity, Quemsland, which has a population of 160 000.50 000 households and 21 000 registered dogs. The registered dog:person ratio can be calculated as about 1:7.6 and the registered dog:household ratio as about 0.42: 1. A survey in 199 1/92 of 26 OOO households found 3000 unregistered dogs. Therefore, assuming some 6OOO unreg- istered dogs should be added to the population, the ratio of dogs kept to people may be about 15.9 and the ratio of dogs kept to households may be 0.54: 1.

Shield (1992) provides primary data on dog keeping in seven Aboriginal and Toms Strait Islander communities in North Queensland involving 51u) people, 795 houses and 990 dogs. There is notable variation in dog:person ratios between commu- nities (from 1:3 to 1:lO) and dog:house ratios (from 0.7:1 to 2.3:l). The aggregated data show that the ratio of dogs kept to people is 15.2 and the ratio of dogs kept to houses is 1.2:l. In 1983 the Australian Capital Temtory (ACT) Division of the

Australian Veterinary Associatian (AVA) organised a survey of dog keeping in the ACT (Australian Veterinary Association 1984). This survey provided information on dog keeping and on attitudes of dog keepers to registration, desexing and general management of pet dogs. A clustered random sampling proce- dure was used to select households in all suburbs. Of 374 Canberra residents who were interviewed, 153 (41%) stated that one or more dogs were kept in their household Of these house- holds, 122 had one dog, 24 had two dogs, six had three dogs and one household had four dogs. Of the 192 dogs, 66% of the females and 35% of the males had been desexed. The dog:household ratio may be calculated as about 0.51. During 1992, the ACT Division of the AVA requested that the

ACT Government obtain base-line data on dog and cat keeping in the ACT. The 1993 ACT Householder Survey, which was conducted in March as a noncompulsory mail-back survey, included the following questions:

Are stray dogs a problem in your area? Are stray cats a problem in your area? How many dogs and cats are there in your household, and how

many are desexed? Of 102 099 survey questionnaires that were distributed to

households, 34415 wereretumed. Thesurvey analysis was based on 34 107 of these, the remainder being discounted because of lack of sufficient information to permit analysis. The response rate of 34.9% was considered good by the ACT Government (ACT Government 1993).

Respondents to the survey reported keeping 12 961 dogs, of which 8979 were desexed, and 12 779 cats, of which 11 739 were desexed. On average the ratio of dogs:households was 0.38: 1 and cats:households also was 0.38:l.

Respondents from 11734 households considered stray dogs to be a problem while 21 759 did not. Respondents from 14 851 households considered stray cats to be a problem while 18 680 did not.

The ACT Government concludes that there are about two dogs and two cats for every five households in the ACT, that there are about 36 OOO dogs kept in the ACT and that 69.3% of these are desexed. The ratio of dogs kept to people is about 1:8, on the basis that there are 295 500 people in the ACT. The number of cats kept and their ratio to people is similar to that of dogs, but 91.9 % of cats kept are desexed. According to the ACT Government, there are 20 OOO dogs registered in the ACT, and the survey

Australian Veterinary Journal Vol. 71, No. 1, January 1994 27

suggests that about half the keepers of dogs are either unaware of or ignore requirements to register their dogs.

This is the second major survey of ACT householders since self-government (1 1 May 1989) and is the first to include ques- tions on dog and cat keeping. The information is considered useful by the ACT Government as base-line data on pet keeping. It is offered here as a reference for other surveys of pet keeping in urban environments.

References ACT Govemment (1993) Report. 1993 Householder Survey. Ewnomic

Australian VUerinaly Association (1984)AVA News, 24 August 1984. (35 H d o c k Jackson. Goad Fink and Holmes R (1993) Pets in Urtun Areas: A

Guide to Integrating Domeslic Pefs into New Residential Developments, P a r e Advisory and Momation Service. West Melbourne. p 8

Mansfield G (1992) In Urban Animal Management: Proceedings of the First National Conference of Urban Animal Management in Australia. edited by Murray RW, Chiron Media, Mackay, p 132

Murray RW and Penridge H (1992) Dogs in the Urtun Environment: A Handbook of Municipal Management. Chiron Media, Madtay, p 85

Parliament of Viaoria, Social Development Committee (1989) Repr f upon the Inquiry into the Role and Welfare of Campanton Animals in Society. Jean Gordon, Government Printer, Melbourne. p 27

South Australian Government (1992) Cat Working Party Report 1992. Department of Environment and Planning, Adelaide

Shield J (1992) In U r h n Animal Management: Proceedings of the First National Conference of Urban Animal Management in Australia, edited by Murray RW, Chiron Media, Mackay, p 168

(Accepted for publication 8 November 1993)

Policy Section, ACT Treasury, Canberra

BOOK SHELF

Diseases and Management of Breeding Stailions, DD Varner, J Schumacher, TL Blanchard and L Johnson, American Veterinary Publications, Goleta, CA, 1991, no price, ISBN 0 939674 33 5

This book comes from the team in Texas A & M University, and is a very readable and well-presented summary of reproduc- tion in the stallion. The book is well illustrated with some excellent photographs including some beautiful electron micros- copy in the section on reproductive physiology and anatomy.

The chapters on breeding soundness and management of the breeding stallion are very practical, and are followed by similar chapters on sperm storage, castration, and behavioral problems. The mare and embryo transfer, not being subject of the book, are not discussed.

Each component part of the reproductive tract is cansidered separately so that the diseases of each region are discussed in detail, with the testes, scrotum and epididymis having separate chapters. All sections are accompanied by excellent illustrations and an extensive bibliography.

I recommend this book to all veterinary practitioners who are likely to have to deal with a stallion and need to fiid information in an easily understandable and practical form. For students and those not in practice, the book provides an excellent insight into everyday procedures and complements the many available texts that consist of detailed experimental data.

JA Rodger

Anlm8l Husbandry In Warm Climates Proceedings of the international Symposium on Animal Husbandry in Warm Cilmates, Vlterbo, itaiy, 25.27 October 7990, edited by Ronchi B, Nardone A and Boyazogiu JG, Pudoc, Wageningen, 1991, (EAAP Publication No 55, 1991), no price, ISBN 90 220 1050 3

The ‘international’ credentials of this meeting were primarily due to the patronage by Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the European Association for Animal Production (EAAP), which has over 30 member countries, and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, an organisation which is not widely recognised outside the meditmanean region. A number of Italian national groups also sponsored the symposium and it was organised by the Universities of Tuscia and Piacenza.

More than half the 25 contributions are from Italian scientists. 3 from France and one from each of Egypt, FAO, Germany, Israel, Morocco, Portugal and the UK. Thus, the proceedings reflects the regional interests of the EAAP in the Near East and north Africa rather than representing a truly global review of animal husbandry opportunities and problems in warm climates.

France, Germany and particularly the UK have been tradition- ally very strong in research into temperature regulation primarily because of their obligations to former colonies. These Govem- ments have provided funds to their national laboratories as part of their foreign aid and development assistance. In some ways, therefore, this meeting is a re-run of similar meetings held 25 to 30 years ago, but with the advantages of a little more knowledge and much greater experience.

As a general comment, the contributions are based on percep- tions of the extent of the problem of failure to thermo-regulate on production, rather than on experimental or practical field experience. Such perceptions can be easily acquired from the comfort of a laboratory in temperate Europe equipped with climate chambers and coloured by brief expeditions to the warmer countries to the east and south! The solution to the production problems associated with climate appears to be sought in more detailed studies of how to assess heat stress, how it affects water balance, feed use and metabolism, what the effects of heat stress are on the endocrine system and reproduction and, in all too few cases, by studies on production under field conditions. The last is, of course, the most difficult to measure and interpret.

More than a decade ago Australian scientists realised that improvements to animal production were unlikely to accrue directly from research on the physiology of temperature regula- tion in the short to medium term, in spite of the excitement and scientific value of such studies. Research at Belmont on beef cattle and at Badgery’s Creek on dairy cattle indicated that improvements to production could be made by introducing heat- tolerant breeds and crossing them to the existing British Eos fuum breeds and selecting within the crossbreds for the prcduc- tion trait of interest, that is, meat or milk.

Selection for growth rate results in an increase in growth rate and a decrease in rectal temperature in environments where high rectal temperature is a significant detriment to growth rate. Selection for a low rectal temperature in hot environments, on the other hand, does not result in a concomitant increase in growth. To predict that the possession of a low rectal temperature in hot environments is necessary for maximum growth is to misunderstand or underestimate the complexity of the interrela- tions in the field that determine feed intake and growth rate, of which temperature regulation is but one.

Heat stress and temperature regulation need to be seen and investigated in the context of the total production system. For example, in warm, damp environments parasites and diseases

28 Australian Veterinary Journal Vol. 71, No. 1, January 1994