Table 3 Themes, Subcategories and open codes

Community efforts

Killing stray dogs in the past

Collecting but not killing the stray dogs now

Organizational activities

The difference in developing the project between the city and the village

The use of poisons around waste is an old problem-solving method

Sterilize dogs as a new method

Start of activities by forming a stray dog

Community knowledge of the efforts

Governmental actions to provide information

Public actions to get information

People’s relative awareness of efforts

Informing the community members by the municipality with installing banners before implementing the plan

People go to healthcare centers in case of animal bites for more information

Leadership

Supervisory organizations

Municipality and government officials in the village (‘Dehyari’) mostly responsible for this issue

The relative leadership of other organizations

The municipality, the governorate and the health sector as the leaders of this issue in the community

The role of religious leaders and other organizations in creating a culture on the subject of stray dogs

Community climate

Positive attitude and public demand for implementing the project

Negative view of Society for Protection against Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) about how stray dogs are collected

Public attention at the time of project implementation

The problem of stray dogs in the villages is more serious and the councils are more aware of this issue

Community knowledge of the issue

In the city:

People’s relative awareness of the dangers of stray dogs and the related diseases

Lack of people’s awareness of the effective actions

Public awareness of the responsible organizations.

In the village:

Lack of villagers’ awareness of the dangers of stray dogs and the related diseases

Public awareness of the responsible organizations

In the city:

Lack of public awareness about dog contamination

Low public awareness about keeping a pet

In the village:

Lack of awareness due to the low susceptibility of the villagers to stray dogs

Resources related to the issue

Differences in resources in urban and village, opportunities and challenges

Lack of funds in the discussion of veterinary education

Volunteer to implement the project

Lack of plans to expand the project