Sociodemographic factors and dog ownership practices that perpetuate the roaming of owned dogs in selected urban and rural settings in Uganda

We analyzed dog care practices among 1,006 owners in urban and rural areas in Uganda to identify the root causes of roaming. The dog owners were mostly male, aged 20–39 years, and low-income earners. Each household in urban areas had an average of 2.36 dogs (SD 3.35), and 2.35 dogs (SD 2.18) in rural areas. We determined that 16.1% of urban dogs and 29.4% of rural dogs roamed during the day, with numbers rising to 26.0% and 65.2% at night (p