The potential threat that domestic animals pose to the health of human populations tends to be overlooked. We posit that positive steps forward can be made in this area, via suitable state-wide public policy. In this paper, we describe the data collection process that took place in Casilda (a city in Argentina), in the context of a canine census. We outline preliminary findings emerging from the data, based on a number of perspectives, along with implications of these findings in terms of informing public policy.@en