In the present study, we found that hunters that hunted with dog assistance were mostly men, of different ages, that have an occupation in agriculture, receive less than the Brazilian minimum wage, and had non or a low level of formal education. The socioeconomic profile of hunters found in this study is in agreement with other studies conducted in Brazil [20, 38,39,40,41]. It is expected that factors such as gender, age, occupation, income, and access to formal education can influence the type of activities related to and the use of natural resources [42,43,44]. In traditional communities, hunting is reported to be almost exclusively a male activity [but see 45, 46]. Research suggested that in hunter-gatherer societies the sexual division of labor with males as hunters and females as gatherers was an ancestral pattern related to the constraints faced by females’ pregnancy and childcare [47]. However, recent findings indicate that this male-biased behavior is a recent cultural motivation [48]. Interestingly, some studies have reported that females can play important roles when hunting with dogs in the Neotropics [see 49]. Most hunters’ occupation in agriculture, their low income, and low formal educational level found here are in accordance with the need for an alternative subsistence and food source in the challenging environment of the Caatinga [20, 21]. Moreover, in this region, hunting activities have a cultural importance that has been practiced for a long time [1]. The knowledge and practices of this activity are passed down between generations, starting in early childhood, and can be maintained throughout life, explaining the fact that we found hunters of the most diverse ages [20].

As part of this practice, hunters typically train their hunting dogs by themselves [20, 49, 50]. The training usually consists in taking younger dogs on hunts so that they can learn, by imitation, from older and more experienced dogs [20, 49, 51, 52]. In addition, dogs can be trained by exposing them to wild animals reared at home (e.g., armadillos, as reported here) to stimulate their senses and natural tendency to hunt [20, 50]. Overall, when hunting with dogs, all hunters preferred to hunt using mixed-breed dogs, as found in other Neotropical areas (e.g., indigenous and traditional Amazonian communities: 49, 53). We found that most hunters hunt with multiple dogs (up to 3), which is a practice also described in other studies [24, 49]. By taking several dogs, hunters can track larger areas and increase the probability of successfully detecting and capturing wild animals [21, 54]. Regarding hunting dogs’ sex, there was no clear preference among hunters, with some preferring males, others preferring females, and others having no preference at all. It seems that these preferences are more related to the hunter’s personal perceptions and experiences than to hunting efficiency influenced by dogs’ sex. Overall, it appears that when a dog is well-trained, both sexes are used and perceived as good, efficient hunters.

The motivations for hunting with dogs were mainly associated with subsistence (for food/flavor) and entertainment (for sport/pleasure), few hunters also mentioned they hunted for trade, medicinal purposes, and eventually, to protect their dogs against dangerous animals. This is in accordance with the findings of other hunting studies conducted in the semiarid region and other parts of the world [15, 39, 50, 55]. Specifically, the hunting of target species with the help of dogs seems to be a recreational activity among hunters, in which the main motivations are entertainment and the appreciation of the bushmeat flavor. Indeed, taste preference can increase the chances of a species being killed [56]. Therefore, besides the relevant subsistence role of hunting in the semiarid, hunting with dogs seems to also have an important cultural role among hunters, playing a significant part in their social life. The most salient target prey species were terrestrial mammals hunted at night (i.e., Euphractus sexcinctus, Conepatus semistriatus, Dasypus novemcinctus, and Tamandua tetradactyla). These species are reported to also be hunted using other strategies/techniques such as tracking and traps [20], and some hunters associate tools or weapons to get easier access and kill the prey. Most of these species seek refuge (in burrows or trees) or assume a defensive posture when pursued by dogs, which makes them particularly vulnerable to this practice [49].

Only two reptile species were reported to be hunted with the help of dogs in Taperoá and Salgadinho, Salvator merianae, and Iguana iguana. Both are hunted as a food resource, and the first one has also known medicinal uses for several diseases [57, 58]. Other hunting studies in the region showed that game fauna is more represented by bird species, followed by mammals and reptiles [39, 59]. Besides the food motivation, another strong motivation to capture birds is the pet market. People capture and keep birds because of their beautiful colors and songs [60]. However, when hunting with dogs, most birds are quickly frightened/scared and fly away. Here, we found four bird species hunted with the assistance of dogs (Crypturellus sp., Cariama cristata, Dendrocygna viduata, and Nothura boraquira). Crypturellus sp. has been reported elsewhere to be a species hunted with the help of trained dogs that flush the birds so that the hunter can shoot it as it takes flight [20]. For other species, such as Dendrocygna viduata, dogs push the birds into the forest, which facilitates the capture [61]. Hunting with dogs usually results in the death of prey, all species of birds hunted with dogs in the surveyed area are used as food.

Hunters perceived that the number of specimens hunted per expedition when hunting with dogs could be three times higher than when hunting without dogs. Some studies showed that hunting with dogs provides a higher return, especially when combined with other tools such as shotguns, bows, or other accessories [49, 62,63,64]. From an optimal foraging perspective, hunting with dogs has both costs and benefits, involving a trade-off between increased encounter rates of several profitable prey species and time costs related to longer pursuits of prey, when compared with hunting only with guns [62]. For example, in Nicaragua, hunting with dogs was profitable in encountering eight times more agoutis (Dasyprocta punctata) than hunting without dogs [62]. However, the efficiency of hunting with dogs can largely vary between locations, as it also depends on other variables such as the prey’s size (energetic benefit) and vulnerability (antipredator behavior/strategies), hunter’s ability to understand dog signs [e.g., 65], and dog’s ability to track and chase prey [24, 49, 53, 66].

Hunting with dogs can be more efficient at providing meat, but also at killing threatened species [24]. Dogs optimize hunting success and select a diversity of species that are more resilient to hunting [53]. However, this activity can have a larger impact on wildlife than hunting without dogs, especially when complemented with other technologies such as firearms [62, 67, 68]. Even though most hunters reported that they maintain their dogs restricted in their household, half of them mentioned that at some point, the dog released itself and escaped to forest areas. In addition, some hunters take their dogs for companionship during their daily activities, typically unrestrained and free to roam. Due to their unselective foraging behavior and self-sufficiency for hunting, these dogs have ended up capturing wild animals by themselves when not on hunting expeditions. This can cause higher pressure on the local fauna in several ways.

First, hunting dogs can track and hunt wild animals not showing any selection on the prey, including juvenile animals, females with cubs, and nontarget species that hunters would not normally pursue (e.g., inedible threatened species) [24]. Indeed, all hunters reported that their dogs capture wild animals without discrimination between the prey’s sex and age, which can have negative consequences at the game population level/dynamics (maintenance or growth), especially in long-lived, slow-reproducing/breeding species (low reproductive rates) [24]. Moreover, hunters reported killing some species for the sole purpose of protecting their dogs, resulting in the killing of carnivores such as Cerdocyon thous, Didelphis albiventris, Procyon cancrivorus, Galictis vittata, Herpailurus yagouaroundi, Leopardus tigrinus, and Leopardus wiedii that are left at the site of the kill. The last three species are classified as vulnerable or endangered species [34, 35]. Second, unrestrained dogs can get lost and become feral dogs, which survive and reproduce independently of human assistance, can become aggressive towards humans, travel at packs, and acquire their primary subsistence by hunting or scavenging like other wild canids [69]. Furthermore, feral dogs can transmit diseases to wild animals, especially carnivores (e.g., distemper, rabies, parvovirus) [70, 71], and affect the habitat use and ranging behavior of some species [72, 73]. Finally, if not neutered, unrestrained dogs can reproduce with other free-roaming/feral dogs and perpetuate all problems mentioned above.

The socioeconomic reality of hunters might be a limiting factor for different aspects of hunting dogs’ keeping practices found in this study. For example, a low monthly income and a low educational level can prevent hunters from offering proper housing, diet, and health care to their dogs due to insufficient financial resources and/or lack of information. In turn, this can compromise dogs’ welfare and sanitary conditions, resulting in injuries, malnutrition, as well as the proliferation of parasites, pathogens, and diseases causing unhealthiness in dogs and representing a potential public health risk also affecting humans and wildlife [74]. It is worth noticing that most hunters vaccinated their dogs in free rabies campaigns, indicating the importance of implementing government actions, not only large-scale dog mass vaccination and neutering programs, but also actions promoting responsible animal ownership to improve information and attitudes toward dogs, their maintenance and care.

Understanding the context in which humans and wildlife interact is critical to the establishment of successful conservation strategies. Given the high degree of human dependence on natural resources, it is important to take into account both conservation and human survival. Therefore, conservation strategies must try to reconcile both needs. Overall, we found that hunting with dogs represents a complex set of local variables, including characteristics of dogs and prey species, hunters’ motivations, strategies, and complementary technologies that should be considered according to each particular situation. Considering the socioeconomic and ecological realities of the semiarid region, the Caatinga, hunters should be included in wildlife management debates aiming to formulate conservation plans focusing on regulating hunting activities (with and without dogs) to mitigate the threat to game species that are more susceptible to over-hunting, while allowing sustainable hunting practices. Management actions could include selective harvesting by sex and age, limiting the harvests of females and cubs; seasonal hunting restrictions during the reproductive seasons of certain species; and the establishment of hunting quotas, restricting which game species and the number of specimens that can be hunted per hunting season. In addition, actions related to the proper maintenance and care of hunting dogs, which are valuable contributors to household subsistence and livelihoods, must be taken into account to prevent additional threats to local fauna. For example, population management practices and public policies aimed at veterinary care to prevent undesired reproduction and the spread of diseases (e.g., castration and vaccination campaigns); limiting dogs from having access to the forest by themselves; and the education of owners about responsible ownership. Finally, adequate supervision for compliance with these management actions is crucial, as the goal would not be the depletion of this cultural activity so deeply rooted in the life of human communities, but to avoid local or functional extinction of animal populations or species.