Abstract
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Drawing on the One Health concept, and integrating a dual
focus on public policy and practices of caring from the
Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, we outline a conceptual
framework to help guide the development and assessment
of local governments’ policies on pets. This framework
emphasizes well-being in human populations, while recognizing
that these outcomes relate to the well-being of nonhuman
animals. Five intersecting spheres of activity, each
associated with local governments’ jurisdiction over pets, are
presented: (i) preventing threats and nuisances from pets, (ii)
meeting pets’ emotional and physical needs, (iii) procuring
pets ethically, (iv) providing pets with veterinary services
and (v) licensing and identifying pets. This conceptual
framework acknowledges the tenets of previous health promotion
frameworks, including overlapping and intersecting
influences. At the same time, this framework proposes to
advance our understanding of health promotion and, more
broadly, population health by underscoring interdependence
between people and pets as well as the dynamism of urbanized
ecologies.