Impact of euthanasia rates, euthanasia practices, and human resource practices on employee turnover in animal shelters

Rogelberg, Steven G.; Reeve, Charlie L.; Spitzmüller, Christiane; DiGiacomo, Natalie; Clark, Olga L.; Teeter, Lisa; Walker, Alan G.; Starling, Paula; Carter, Nathan T.

doi:10.2460/javma.230.5.713

Cited by 71 publications

(77 citation statements)

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“…In a situation where the animal is seriously injured or ill with potentially reduced animal welfare, responsible shelter personnel or veterinarian need to consider treatment options or euthanasia. Euthanizing animals was established as a major stressor for personnel in animal shelters where euthanasia is performed on the basis of factors other than behaviour and health reasons (Rogelberg et al 2007;Baran et al 2009;Scotney et al 2015). However, even if euthanasia was performed on medical grounds, concern over animal death was associated with reported traumatic stress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rates of death and euthanasia for cats in no-kill shelters in the Czech Republic

et al. 2017

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Successful reduction of death and euthanasia rates requires the determination of factors related to death and euthanasia of cats in shelters. In the period from 2011 to 2015, 474 cats died and 240 had to be euthanized for health reasons in the three cat shelters monitored in our study. Altogether, death was the ultimate outcome for 33% of the cats admitted in the shelters. Out of the cats that died, 67.3% cats died within the first month and 95.4% within 6 months of admission to the shelter. Similarly, 65.0% of all euthanized cats were euthanized within the first month and 88.3% were euthanized within 6 months of admission. Since the majority of mortalities occurred shortly after admission, they more probably resulted from the cats' poor condition at the time of admission rather than from the shelter's environment. Females and cats younger than 6 months were at an increased risk of mortality. Autumn and summer were the seasons with the majority of fatalities. In general, the number of cats that died was almost double the number of cats that were euthanized; this suggests that attempts to cure cats were favoured over euthanasia, even in cases of serious health problems. In the fields of cat welfare and veterinary healthcare, the results enable increased attention to be focused on the determined risk factors and thus are an important prerequisite for a successful solution to the problem of the high number of deaths and instances of euthanasia of cats in shelters.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of shelter cats are euthanized due to overcrowding. The management of unwanted cats, in particular the large-scale euthanasia of often healthy cats, raises ethical issues (Rogelberg et al 2007;Baran et al 2009) and is of increasing concern to the community.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rates of death and euthanasia for cats in no-kill shelters in the Czech Republic

et al. 2017

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“…Congruent results were identified between this study and previous research which found that euthanasia typically has a negative impact on an individual's health and well-being (Arluke 1991, White and Shawhan 1996, Stamm 1997, Reeve, Spitzmuller et al 2004, Reeve, Rogelberg et al 2005, Rohlf and Bennett 2005. With a survey instrument devised by the researchers, this particular cross-sectional study (Rogelberg, Reeve et al 2007) found a significant correlation between euthanasia rates and employee turnover index (r = 0.36, P < 0.05) that is, higher euthanasia rates were associated with increased employee turnover. Conversely, euthanasia rates for cats were not related to employee turnover.…”

Section: Quantitative Studiesmentioning

confidence: 48%

“…The method of participant recruitment and the way in which data were analysed and reported also varied. Three studies used quantitative methodology (Reeve, Rogelberg et al 2005, Rogelberg, Reeve et al 2007, Black, Winefield et al 2011, five were qualitative studies (Arluke 1991, Reeve, Spitzmuller et al 2004, Rogelberg, DiGiacomo et al 2007, Baran, Allen et al 2009, Davies and Lewis 2010, and four used a mixed-method approach (Rohlf and Bennett 2005, Foster and Maples 2011, Baran, Rogelberg et al 2012, Anderson et al 2013. Two studies were conducted in Australia (Rohlf andBennett 2005, Black, Winefield et al 2011), and one study in the United Kingdom (Davies and Lewis 2010), with the remaining studies conducted in the United States.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the studies included in this review specifically evaluated animal shelter employees (Arluke 1991, Reeve, Spitzmuller et al 2004, Reeve, Rogelberg et al 2005, Rohlf and Bennett 2005, Rogelberg, DiGiacomo et al 2007, Rogelberg, Reeve et al 2007, Baran, Allen et al 2009, Baran, Rogelberg et al 2012, Anderson et al 2013, and 50% of all studies were conducted on small (<100) sample groups (Arluke 1991, Reeve, Spitzmuller et al 2004, Rogelberg, DiGiacomo et al 2007, Davies and Lewis 2010, Foster and Maples 2011, Anderson et al 2013. In some instances, pertinent methodological and analytical processes such as ethnographic analysis (Arluke 1991), and thematic analysis (Davies and Lewis 2010), were incompletely described.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occupational Stress & Compassion Fatigue: The effects on workers in animal-related occupations

Scotney¹

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The study of occupational stress and compassion fatigue in personnel working in animalrelated occupations has gained momentum over the last decade. The impact of these conditions on employee mental wellbeing, workplace productivity and morale is notable and has become more recognised by those who are employed in animal-related occupations. However, there remains incongruence in understanding what is currently termed compassion fatigue and the associated unique contributory factors. Animal-related occupational stress and compassion fatigue are important issues as they can have such a negative impact on people. However, they are largely overlooked in the animal health sector and to date, are very much under researched.There is a need to build a body of evidence-based knowledge in this area and the aims of this thesis are to begin to address gaps in the literature. The overall aim of this thesis was to conduct a number of projects in order to investigate, describe and quantify factors relating to euthanasia induced stress and, occupational stress and distress associated with working in animal-related occupations. Participants included those working as laboratory animal technicians, veterinary nurses and veterinarians, animal shelter employees, animal control officers and ancillary staff such as receptionists, volunteers and foster carers.To initially scope and explore the area of animal-related occupational stress and compassion fatigue, a systematic review of euthanasia in animal care workers was conducted. This review showed that there is a high incidence of occupational stress and euthanasia induced stress in animal health care personnel. Working with animals, and performing euthanasia, can evoke traumatic stress responses and compromise the wellbeing of animal health care employees.To further tease out the context and consequences of euthanasia and occupational stress, a survey which relied on the ProQoL was conducted. This research showed that whilst most people who work in animal-related occupations experience average or above average compassion satisfaction from the work that they do every day, they also report experiencing the negative aspects of caring such as burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Veterinarians and animal research technicians reported the lowest level of compassion satisfaction. A greater risk of burnout was shown by those who had been working in an animal-related occupation for longer and women were reported as facing a greater risk of secondary traumatic stress than men.3 Furthermore, focus group interviews were utilised to capture the highly contextualised, emotive expression of employees in regard to the impact of euthanasia and working in animalrelated occupations. 'Stress and distress' was overwhelmingly identified as a factor most associated with working with animals. Animal attendants and nurses working in animal shelters reported the highest level of stress and distress followed closely by those in management roles in animal shelters and veterinary nurses working in emer...

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2012

Veterinary Euthanasia Techniques

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Impact of euthanasia rates, euthanasia practices, and human resource practices on employee turnover in animal shelters

Abstract: Data obtained may suggest several specific avenues that can be pursued to mitigate turnover among employees with euthanasia responsibilities at animal shelters and animal control or veterinary medical organizations.

Cited by 71 publications

References 10 publications

Rates of death and euthanasia for cats in no-kill shelters in the Czech Republic

Rates of death and euthanasia for cats in no-kill shelters in the Czech Republic

Occupational Stress & Compassion Fatigue: The effects on workers in animal-related occupations

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