Deafness Investigations of Aksaray Malaklısı Dogs in Sivas Province

Abstract

Aksaray Malaklısı is one of the indigenous dog breeds of Turkey. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the current situation of hearing of Aksaray Malaklısı that were raised in Sivas. Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test was performed in 34 Aksaray Malaklısı shepherd dogs in 3 farms in Sivas city center and Kangal district, and hearing thresholds were evaluated in 20, 40, 60, and 80 decibels (dB) thresholds. Afterwards, the dogs were grouped as according to general outlook, gender, whether the ear was cut or not, and age range, and comparisons were made in terms of wavelengths of both ears. In group comparisons, independent t-test was used in the general group, Mann Whitney U test was applied in groups formed according to gender and whether the ear was cut or not, and Kruskal-Wallis test was used in the age group. All statistical analyzes were performed in SPSS v.25 package program. As a result of the study, it was determined that a total of 2 animals had unilateral (left side) deafness. As a result of the comparison of the groups, no statistical significance was detected in any group and in any wave size (P>0.05). In this study, it was determined that there was no decrease in the sense of hearing as age progressed in age groups and there was no difference between the genders. This study has the feature of being the first study in which deafness screening was performed in Aksaray Malaklısı shepherd dogs. The study should be expanded to include the animals in the hands of the breeder in the province of Aksaray, where Aksaray Malaklı are bred.