Cortisol Levels of Shelter Dogs in Animal Assisted Interventions in a Prison: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Previous studies regarding the Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) have mainly focused on the beneficial effects of human–animal interactions on human health; whereas the impact of such activities on the welfare of the animals involved has received limited attention. So far, few studies have addressed this issue by evaluating the physiological and behavioral reactions of therapy dogs during the interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effect of AAI on the cortisol levels of shelter dogs. Five dogs participated in weekly AAI working activities with adult inmates held at a prison of the South of Italy for two months. Saliva samples were collected every two weeks in three conditions: at the kennel (baseline), after transportation and at the end of the working sessions. The results revealed a significant decrease in the cortisol baseline at the end of the AAI program, suggesting that the activities carried out with humans and in a different environment could improve the welfare of dogs housed in kennels. Moreover, we found that transportation significantly increased subjects’ cortisol levels, suggesting that it is a critical phase that deserves particular care.

Therapy Dog Welfare Revisited: A Review of the Literature

“…Research outcomes indicating that working salivary cortisol concentrations are similar to baseline measurements gathered on non-working days [13][14][15]20,22] parallel previous data from Glenk et al [25,26], Ng et al [27] and Koda et al [28]. A study with shelter dogs reported a significant decrease in basal cortisol concentrations across the two months of a weekly AAI program [24]. In contrast, studies have found an AAIrelated increase in behavioral stress [19], salivary cortisol [21], heart rate [13,21] and breath rate [21]).…”

“…In addition, transportation for approximately 60 min resulted in a significant increase of the dogs cortisol levels compared to baseline measurements at the kennel or post AAI session. The study results highlight that structured interaction with humans outside the shelter environment seems to be efficient in buffering hyperarousal linked with high cortisol levels in kennel-housed dogs [24].…”

“…An issue that was raised in several publications was transportation. Transport duration of between 50 and 60 min were related to increased physiological arousal [21,24]. Caution is warranted if dogs experience transportation distress such as fear of car rides [15,16,21].…”

“…There was only one study that included kennel-housed shelter dogs participating in AAIs [24]. For the purpose of the study, a veterinary behavior expert pre-selected wellsuited candidates based on canine personality and behavior from a shelter dog population.…”

Human-Dog Relationship during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy

“…The human-dog relationship is influenced by both canine and human characteristics [ 11 ]. We know dogs have learned the ability to recognize human emotions due to their domestication process, which has selected dogs with the best communication skills with humans [ 12 ]. Dogs can recognize the emotional expressions of human faces [ 13 , 14 ] and integrate bimodal sensory information to discriminate positive and negative emotions both in dogs and humans and this skill appears to exceed the ability of other animals [ 15 ].…”