Olika synpunkter på importen av gatuhundar till Sverige. Skillnader i beteende och hälsa hos ”före detta gatuhundar” och ”svenska hundar”

The interest in adopting imported stray dogs has increased in Sweden in recent years. There are different views on whether to adopt a dog from abroad or not due to different aspects regarding animal welfare problems. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate whether there are differences in behavior and health problems between former stray dogs (FG) and Swedish dogs (SH). Three questionnaires were designed, of which two for dog owners of each dog type and one for veterinarians. In addition, experts in the field, veterinarian Johan Beck-Friis and animal behaviorist Linda Hill specializing in stray dogs, were interviewed. Dog organizations working with importing stray dogs to Sweden were also contacted, but due to a lack of answers, it was difficult to get a general view of them. FG did not appear to have any major behavioral differences compared to SH, except in the case of fear. Furthermore, SH had more health problems than FG according to the dog owners. On the other hand, the majority of the veterinarians considered that FG generally had more behavioral and health problems than SH.