Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities

Last updated November 23, 2023

Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC) is an Australian organisation that works alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to coordinate and facilitate sustainable, culturally-sensitive, professional animal health programs. AMRRIC supports desexing and dog health programs to improve the situation for dogs, their owners and communities. By improving the health and welfare of companion animals, AMRRIC contributes to improved community health.

AMRRIC is a non-profit organisation based in Darwin, Northern Territory, operating nationally across Australia. AMRRIC receives funding from the Australian Federal Government's Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and from the Northern Territory Government, and also relies on private and philanthropic donations.

Activities

AMRRIC is an independent organisation working in all areas of animal management in remote communities, including dog health and welfare, policy, research, education and capacity building. It runs programs which address animal management in a way which is sustainable, culturally sensitive and agreed upon by all parties.^[2]

AMRRIC has a range of programs and projects, including:

Dog health programs which are veterinarian-led desexing programs, including anti-parasite treatment. The program reduces the problems associated with large unmanaged populations of dogs, this includes zoonotic diseases and roaming packs of dogs which show threatening behaviour towards or attacks on humans.
Animal Management Worker program which provides training, resources and employment to local Indigenous people that enables them to take responsibility for their animals’ health and welfare. Animal Management Workers assist in the running of dog health programs.^[3]
Education programs designed for Indigenous school students, community members, environmental health practitioners, animal management workers and government and non-government organisations about all aspects of animal health and welfare in remote Indigenous communities. Including guidebooks for veterinarians conducting programs on Indigenous communities^[4]
Developing animal health and welfare policy with government partners which is relevant to remote Indigenous communities
Research programs including the Cancer Genome Project in Cambridge, UK, and its work on Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour, a common disease in dogs in remote Australian communities.

Understanding the issues

Living conditions in remote Indigenous communities across Australia impact on animal and human health. There are many challenges when managing large dog populations within poorly resourced Indigenous communities. The impact of dog health on the human community is evidenced in the zoonotic diseases passed from animals to humans. In some Indigenous communities in Western Australia gastrointestinal diseases are a major problem in young children. In Western Australia, hospitalisation for gastroenteritis was 7 times higher in Aboriginal children than Non-Aboriginal children.^[5]

Dogs have always been part of Indigenous communities in Australia and have many roles including, hunters, companions and guard dogs. Although beliefs about the spiritual significance of dogs vary in from community to community, dogs occupy an important place in culture and the community. It is essential to understand the strong cultural tradition of living with companion animals when developing and delivering animal health and management programs.^[6]

The problem of unmanaged dogs

When there are no veterinary services available to a remote community, large unmanaged populations of dogs flourish. These are some of the problem associated with unmanaged dog populations:^[7]

Overpopulation - uncontrolled breeding, unwanted dogs and large numbers of dogs often roaming in packs
Zoonoses - the transference of disease from animals to humans, these include scabies, giardia, hookworm
Noise - associated with barking, fighting or mating
Litter - mess from scavenging such as overturned bins, scraps, faeces, etc.
Danger and threatening behaviour - "cheeky dogs" biting or attacking children, dogs chasing vehicles
Loss - dogs stealing food from storage or young children; dogs attacking livestock

Related Research Articles

Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutrition, and product development. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both domesticated and wild, with a wide range of conditions that can affect different species.

A zoonosis or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen that can jump from a non-human to a human and vice versa.

A veterinarian (vet) is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal reproduction, health management, conservation, husbandry and breeding and preventive medicine like nutrition, vaccination and parasitic control as well as biosecurity and zoonotic disease surveillance and prevention.

Trap–neuter–return (TNR), also known as trap–neuter–release, is a controversial method that attempts to manage populations of feral cats. The process involves live-trapping the cats, having them neutered, ear-tipped for identification, and, if possible, vaccinated, then releasing them back into the outdoors. If the location is deemed unsafe or otherwise inappropriate, the cats may be relocated to other appropriate areas. Ideally, friendly adults and kittens young enough to be easily socialized are retained and placed for adoption. Feral cats cannot be socialized, shun most human interaction and do not fare well in confinement, so they are not retained. Cats suffering from severe medical problems such as terminal, contagious, or untreatable illnesses or injuries are often euthanized.

A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens of generations and become an aggressive local apex predator in urban, savannah and bushland environments. Some feral cats may become more comfortable with people who regularly feed them, but even with long-term attempts at socialization, they usually remain aloof and are most active after dusk. Of the 700 million cats in the world, an estimated 480 million are feral.

The National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) develops and publishes uniform public health procedures involving zoonotic disease in the United States and its territories. These veterinarians work closely with emergency rooms, legislators, local officials, schools, health departments, and the general public to prevent disease exposure and control diseases that are transmitted to humans from animals and animal products.

World Animal Protection, formerly The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is an international non-profit animal welfare organization that has been in operation since 1981. The charity's mission is to create a better world for animals by protecting them.

An outstation, homeland or homeland community is a very small, often remote, permanent community of Aboriginal Australian people connected by kinship, on land that often, but not always, has social, cultural or economic significance to them, as traditional land. The outstation movement or homeland movement refers to the voluntary relocation of Aboriginal people from towns to these locations.

North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine is an American educational institution located in Raleigh, North Carolina that offers master's and doctorate-level degree programs; interdisciplinary research in a range of veterinary and comparative medicine topics through centers, institutes, programs and laboratories; and external engagement through public service programs and activities.

The Northern Territory National Emergency Response, also known as "The Intervention" or the Northern Territory Intervention, and sometimes the abbreviation "NTER" was a package of measures enforced by legislation affecting Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, which lasted from 2007 until 2012. The measures included restrictions on the consumption of alcohol and pornography, changes to welfare payments, and changes to the delivery and management of education, employment and health services in the Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Animal Welfare Society</span> Organization

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a volunteer-based, non-government organization whose goal is to prevent animal cruelty through education, animal sheltering and advocacy, based in Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded in 1954 by Muriel Jay. PAWS believes that the creation of a more peaceful society starts with the widening of mankind's circle of compassion which includes animals, thereby envisions a nation that respects animals, practices responsible pet ownership and protects wildlife. The volunteer-based organization rehabilitates these animals in the hope of finding them new homes and a second chance at a good life. PAWS does not take in pets of other people, but only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of the Animal Welfare Act in court.

The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to promoting animal welfare and animal husbandry practices, strengthening the human-animal bond, and safeguarding the rights of responsible animal owners and professionals through research, public education and public policy. The NAIA mission is "to promote the welfare of animals."

The Rural Health Education Foundation was an Australian provider of television-based health education for doctors, pharmacists, nurses and allied health professionals.

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) is a non-profit organization that aims to eliminate deaths from canine rabies by 2030. Rabies is a neglected disease of poverty, which is almost 100% fatal, but can also be prevented with available vaccines. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control's work centers around the One Health Approach where vaccinating dogs stops the disease at its source and protects the whole community. Where the funding and political will exist, canine rabies has been eliminated. Inequality in access to preventive health care and proven control methods means that around 59,000 people, almost all in Africa and Asia, die every year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Health</span>

One Health is an approach calling for "the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally, to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment", as defined by the One Health Initiative Task Force (OHITF). It developed in response to evidence of the spreading of zoonotic diseases between species and increasing awareness of "the interdependence of human and animal health and ecological change". In this viewpoint, public health is no longer seen in purely human terms. Due to a shared environment and highly conserved physiology, animals and humans not only suffer from the same zoonotic diseases, but can also be treated by either structurally related or identical drugs. For this reason, special care must be taken to avoid unnecessary or over-treatment of zoonotic diseases, particularly in the context of drug resistance in infectious microbes.

The Stronger Futures policy is a multifaceted social policy of the Australian government concerning the Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory. It is underpinned by the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012, which ceases to have effect 10 years after its commencement on 29 June 2012.

In the United States, there are environmental and occupational health hazards in zoological parks. The risks associated with working with and caring for the animals, include visitor employee safety. There are numerous safeguards in place to prevent injury, disease, and death.

Cats are a popular pet in New Zealand. Cat ownership is occasionally raised as a controversial conservation issue due to the predation of endangered species, such as birds and lizards, by feral cats.

Indigenous health in Australia examines health and wellbeing indicators of Indigenous Australians compared with the rest of the population. Statistics indicate that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders are much less healthy than other Australians. Various government strategies have been put into place to try to remediate the problem; there has been some improvement in several areas, but statistics between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the Australian population still show unacceptable levels of difference.

In Italy, the Ministry of Health is responsible for animal welfare. Each province within Italy has an official appointed to the Office of Animal Rights. Their main objective is to address stray and abandoned animal issues. Italy also has passed legal protections for animals, as well as being home to several animal rights organizations.

References

↑ Gaskin, Sharyn; Bentham, Richard; Cromar, Nancy; Fallowfield, Howard (2007). "The Zoonotic Potential of Dogs in Aboriginal Communities in Central Australia". Environmental Health. 7 (4): 43. hdl:2328/11857.
↑ "Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC) current and affiliated dog health programs « Programs and projects « Key resources « Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet". Healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
↑ "AMRRIC « The Veterinarian Magazine". Theveterinarian.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
↑ "Conducting Dog Health Programs in Indigenous Communities: A Veterinary Guide". AMRRIC. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
↑ Gracey, M; Cullinane (2003). "J". Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 39 (6): 427–431. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1754.2003.00182.x.
↑ Constable S., Dixon RM and Dixon RJ, 2010 “For the Love of Dog: The Human - Animal Bond in Rural and Remote Australian Indigenous Communities.” Anthrozoos (in press)
↑ "Environmental Health Worker Manual Chapter 3. Healthy People, Homes and Dogs 69" (PDF). Public.health.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Gaskin, Sharyn; Bentham, Richard; Cromar, Nancy; Fallowfield, Howard (2007). "The Zoonotic Potential of Dogs in Aboriginal Communities in Central Australia". Environmental Health. 7 (4): 43. hdl:2328/11857.

[2] "Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC) current and affiliated dog health programs « Programs and projects « Key resources « Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet". Healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

[3] "AMRRIC « The Veterinarian Magazine". Theveterinarian.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

[4] "Conducting Dog Health Programs in Indigenous Communities: A Veterinary Guide". AMRRIC. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

[5] Gracey, M; Cullinane (2003). "J". Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 39 (6): 427–431. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1754.2003.00182.x.

[6] Constable S., Dixon RM and Dixon RJ, 2010 “For the Love of Dog: The Human - Animal Bond in Rural and Remote Australian Indigenous Communities.” Anthrozoos (in press)

[7] "Environmental Health Worker Manual Chapter 3. Healthy People, Homes and Dogs 69" (PDF). Public.health.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]