American Staffordshire Terriers, or pit bulls, are becoming more popular in Costa Rica, rising from 9th place in 2011 to 4th place in World Animal Protection’s recent survey on dog ownership.

Staffords, along with poodles, schnauzers and others, still only represent a small portion of Costa Rica’s estimated 1.3 million dogs, with mutts or “zaguates” making up nearly half.

“We were surprised to learn that the American Staffordshire is gaining in popularity,” said Melanie Gamboa, head of World Animal Protection’s veterinary services, in an interview with Radio Monumental. “And this is of concern not because of the breed per se, but … since they can be aggressive they are often kept in a cage all day, and when they are taken out, are walked on a choke chain, and are sometimes used as a status symbol. This breed is worrisome as far as animal welfare for these reasons.”

The study, conducted from Dec. 2015 – January 2016, concluded that half of Costa Rican homes have pooches, but that loving a dog is simply not enough.

World Animal Protection recommends on their website that owners be sure to clean up their furry friends’ poop, put identifying tags on their pets, sterilize, vaccinate and deworm in a timely fashion, and take care of their pets’ basic needs.

Gamboa also emphasized the need to move away from the practice of giving pets as gifts. This, she said, has led to a situation in which 70 percent of homes with dogs haven’t figured out who is responsible for the pet, and costs of care are often not calculated into the family budget. While 65 percent of dogs are walked by their owner, the remainder either are let out to roam alone or are never let out.

The international agency works from five regional hubs to protect animals affected by disasters, and animals living on farms, in the wild, and in communities.

Information for the study was collected from 1850 people throughout Costa Rica, and has a 2.2 percent margin of error.

A study by the University of Costa Rica (UCR) School of Statistics in 2013 closely mirror World Animal Protection’s findings, revealing that almost half of dogs were given as gifts.

They found that 66.5 percent of homes in Costa Rica had a pet, and one in five of these were a non-traditional pet such as a fish, bird, reptile, rodent or rabbit. Of concern were the over 100,000 homes with a wild bird as a pet, which is illegal in Costa Rica. The UCR study also found that one-third of dog and cat owners income fell short of meeting their  family’s basic needs, stated study co-author Carlos Solis Fonseca on the UCR website.

Information for the UCR study was gathered in October and November 2013 through personal interviews with 824 people.

Meanwhile, Luis Diego Coronado, spokesperson for the Citizen Action Party (PAC), whose legislator, Marcela Guerrero Campos, is sponsoring revisions to Costa Rica’s animal welfare law (Law 7451), said the new law still awaits a floor vote in the Legislative Assembly. The proposed law establishes prison sentences for people who mistreat animals.

The proposed revised legislation does not cover animals in the agriculture and livestock sector nor animals used for entertainment, which are regulated by the National Animal Health Agency (Senasa), the Ministry of Health, and the existing law on events involving animals.