More than wild canids, stray dogs in many regions of the world (North and South America, Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa; touristic centres in warm climates) have to rely on the permanent availability of organic anthropogenic waste. This nutrition is obtained by the animals from regular and wild garbage dumps in rural and urban areas, or from garbage cans in the streets of smaller or larger settlements. In this way, contacts with humans are always possible. However, garbage-dependent feeding involves several dangers for the animals (intoxications, infections, parasitoses, impairment of denture, injuries), and, possibly, for humans (zoonoses like e. g. rabies and echinococcoses).
