Factors Informing Outcomes for Older Cats and Dogs in Animal Shelters

Hawes, Sloane M.; Kerrigan, Josephine; Morris, Kevin N.

doi:10.3390/ani8030036

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…We also found that dogs' length of stay in foster care was related to their age, such that as age increased, so did time in foster care. While this relationship has been observed with dogs awaiting adoption in the shelter ( 50 , 51 ), this adopter preference for younger dogs in foster care has not been previously characterized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Emergency Fostering of Dogs From Animal Shelters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shelter Practices, Foster Caregiver Engagement, and Dog Outcomes

et al. 2022

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Each year, millions of dogs enter thousands of animal shelters across the United States. Life in the shelter can be stressful, and one type of intervention that improves dogs' experience is human interaction, particularly stays in foster homes. Prior research has demonstrated that fostering can reduce dogs' cortisol and increase their resting activity. Despite these benefits, little is understood about the utilization of foster caregiving in animal shelters, and even less so during a crisis. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization deemed the coronavirus outbreak a worldwide pandemic, and subsequently a nationwide emergency was declared in the United States. Nearly all states issued stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of the virus. During this time, media outlets reported increased interest in the adoption and fostering of shelter pets. This study explores canine foster caregiving at 19 US animal shelters during the first 4 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In our investigation, we found that shelters' utilization of foster caregiving increased from March to April 2020 but returned to initial pandemic levels by June 2020. Slightly less than two-fifths of foster caregivers were community members with no prior relationship with the shelter, and these caregivers were over four times more likely to adopt their fostered dogs than those with a pre-existing relationship to the shelter. Individuals fostering with the intention to adopt, in fact, adopted their dogs in nearly three-quarters of those instances. With regards to shelters' available resources, we found that very low-resource shelters relied more heavily on individuals with prior relationships to provide foster caregiving while very high-resource shelters more often recruited new community members. We also found that our lowest resourced shelters transferred more dogs out of their facilities while more resourced shelters rehomed dogs directly to adopters. To our knowledge, these findings represent the first in-depth reporting about dog fostering in US animal shelters and, more specifically, foster caregiving during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, they provide greater understanding of how monetary and human resources were utilized to affect the care and ultimately, the outcomes of shelter dogs during this time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Emergency Fostering of Dogs From Animal Shelters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shelter Practices, Foster Caregiver Engagement, and Dog Outcomes

et al. 2022

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“…One study found that dogs 8 years or older are "marginally" more likely to be adopted compared to 5-7 year old dogs [10]. Another study found that when only analyzing geriatric dogs, their average LOS was 89 days, but that health condition was the most predictive factor for adoption [28]. Our findings indicate that the longer senior dogs remain in the shelter, the more adoptable they become relative to other age groups with the same LOS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Phenotypic Characteristics Associated with Shelter Dog Adoption in the United States

Cain

Woodruff

Smith

2020

Animals

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The objective of this study was to identify phenotypic characteristics of dogs predictive of adoption after being received into a shelter. Individual dog records for 2017 were requested from shelters in five states that received municipal funding and utilized electronic record keeping methods. Records from 17 shelters were merged into a dataset of 19,514 potentially adoptable dogs. A simple random sample of 4500 dogs was used for modelling. Variables describing coat length, estimated adult size, and skull type were imputed from breed phenotype. A Cox proportional hazard model with a random effect of shelter was developed for the outcome of adoption using manual forward variable selection. Significance for model inclusion was set at alpha = 0.05. Dogs from shelters in the North were more likely to be adopted than dogs from shelters in the South (hazard ratio (HR) = 3.13, 95% C.I. 1.27–7.67), as were dogs from Western shelters versus those from Southern shelters (HR = 3.81, 95% C.I. 1.43–10.14). The effect of estimated adult size, skull type, and age group on adoption were each modified by time in the shelter (p < 0.001). The results of this study indicate that what dogs look like is predictive of their hazard for adoption from shelters, but the effect of some characteristics on hazard for adoption depend on time in the shelter. Further, this study demonstrates that adopters prefer a certain phenotype of shelter dog including those that are puppies, small sized and not brachycephalic, when accounting for time in the sheltering environment.

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“…This stands in contrast to the modest change documented between 2018 and 2019, when euthanasia decreased by 9%. The literature indicates that these best practices for reducing shelter euthanasia include providing specialized medical and behavior care for animals in shelter care, reducing barriers to adoption (e.g., eliminating adoption fees), engaging in triage and appointment-based admissions, and increasing stakeholder engagement in shelter services (e.g., foster caregiving, partnerships with local private practice veterinarians) ( 35 – 39 ). Future research should continue to assess which populations of animals are most likely to be euthanized and continue to evaluate which programs are most effective at reducing non-live outcomes in animal shelters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Intake and Outcome Data From U.S. Animal Shelters From 2016 to 2020

et al. 2022

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In this retrospective, exploratory study, intake and outcome data were compiled from 1,373 U.S. animal shelters for which such data were reported consistently across a five-year study period (2016–2020). Linear regression analysis was used to examine the five-year trends and the impacts of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) on the overall trends in intake and outcomes in U.S. animal shelters. The results of the analysis reveal that total intake and euthanasia for both dogs and cats significantly decreased over the study period. The adoption, return-to-owner, return-to-field, and transfer (for cats) categories as a percentage of intake all showed significant increases. Live release rates as a function of total intakes and total outcomes for both dogs and cats showed significant increases over the study period. The findings from this study address a critical gap in the field by summarizing emerging trends at the national level in how cats and dogs are being served in U.S. animal shelters.

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Factors Informing Outcomes for Older Cats and Dogs in Animal Shelters

Cited by 22 publications

References 46 publications

Emergency Fostering of Dogs From Animal Shelters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shelter Practices, Foster Caregiver Engagement, and Dog Outcomes

Emergency Fostering of Dogs From Animal Shelters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shelter Practices, Foster Caregiver Engagement, and Dog Outcomes

Phenotypic Characteristics Associated with Shelter Dog Adoption in the United States

Trends in Intake and Outcome Data From U.S. Animal Shelters From 2016 to 2020

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