The majority of municipalities in Brazil face demands involving communities' dogs. Issues such as abandonment, abuse, hoarders, lack of veterinary care and low availability of spay and neuter programmes are the main issues. Despite this, two municipalities stand out for having implemented programmes to address these challenges in Brazil.

Evaluated were two DPM programmes on driver agents, challenges and impacts on AW of community dogs.

Since 2012, Curitiba government established a partnership with a local veterinary college (UFPR) and initiated a programme including reproductive control, registration and identification, annual rabies vaccination, pet trade control, centralized service to receive all abuse denouncements; monitoring of animal hoarders; identification and sterilizations of community dogs and also veterinary assistance for dogs of homeless people and awareness initiatives as children's contests and education programs.

In the same year, in Santa Cruz Rio Pardo, a local pet food company had an initiative to start a comprehensive program for population management of dogs, with the following objectives: prevention of animals' abandonment on public roads; education on responsible pet ownership; decrease birth rates, morbidity, mortality and renewal of animal populations; improve measures to control zoonosis diseases; promoting social participation and empowerment of individuals and communities; and appropriate, humane and ethical destination for homeless animals.

Different actors can be important drivers for social changes. No matter which stakeholder pushes change, the most relevant is to pursue strategic partnerships for guarantee of efficacy and sustainability. These two cities are examples of effective projects that are helping to improve the AW of community dogs in Brazil.