Feral dogs on X: the debate in Chilean society

Abstract

The ecological impact of free-ranging dogs has garnered significant interest in the scientific community over the past two decades. However, a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to managing this issue, particularly concerning feral dogs, remains elusive. To explore the discourse surrounding feral dogs within society, we compiled a dataset of 1052 tweets from X spanning 15 years (2006–2021) of debate in Chile, a country where keeping unconfined dogs is a common practice. We codified this dataset using inductive text analysis, resulting in 13 thematic codes. Predominantly regular people (70.2%) engaged in the debate, while politicians and scientists (both <5%) were under-represented. X users employed a broad range of dog categories, including metonyms, but primarily emphasized unrestricted movement rather than strict independence from human subsidy, a criterion associated with the scientific definition of ferality. Key discussion themes included (1) dog-wildlife interactions (56% of 336 threat mentions), (2) legal hunting (43% of 323 expressed disagreement), and (3) policy-related concerns (40% of 155 expressed disappointments with policy). Notably, accounts with high engagement (followers, likes, retweets) often presented ambivalent viewpoints, such as animal rights versus conservation. We conclude that effective policy solutions for dog management necessitate a more active role by scientists and the implementation of participatory public debate instruments to prevent allowing polarized framings to dominate. This approach should prioritize addressing the conflicting ethical assumptions underlying differing worldviews (e.g., zoocentric versus ecocentric) and respect the cultural fundamentals of dog confinement.