Loving Them to Death: Blame-Displacing Strategies of Animal Shelter Workers and Surrenderers

Frommer, Stephanie S.; Arluke, Arnold

doi:10.1163/156853099x00121

Cited by 61 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Nonetheless, they learn to live with this unpleasant task as an inevitable feature of their jobs by relying on various institutional coping devices that reduce the stress and normalize killing (Arluke 1994b). Typically, shelter workers see themselves as compassionate people who put animals out of misery in a humane way while blaming the general public for causing the killing (Frommer and Arluke 1999). Most shelter workers deny that their killing or "euthanasia" is cruel and do not see it in the same light as harm rendered to animals in laboratories or farms, even when they euthanize animals that might be adoptable, let alone those that are young, attractive, and healthy.…”

Section: Finding Authenticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To reduce their own guilt and uneasiness, workers turned around and blamed society for euthanasia because it created the pet overpopulation problem (Frommer and Arluke 1999). Workers complained that they had to "clean up" after irresponsible pet owners who "surrendered" their animals without good reason, overburdening and overcrowding shelters that were then forced to euthanize animals for reasons of space or economy.…”

Section: Finding Authenticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Just a Dog : Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves

Arluke¹

2006

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Section: Finding Authenticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Finding Authenticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Just a Dog : Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves

Arluke¹

2006

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“…Further to this, it has been demonstrated in the United States that high euthanasia rates are linked to high staff turnover ) and moral stress for employees (Rollin 1986). The detrimental health effects of stress include depression, high blood pressure, sleeplessness, mental health issues, substance abuse and decreased emotional response (Arluke 1991, Frommer and Arluke 1999, Rohlf and Bennett 2005). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Australian excess cat population: An exploration of cat admissions and outcomes to RSPCA shelters

Alberthsen¹

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It is estimated that more than 60% of cats admitted to animal shelters in Australia are euthanased. Euthanasia of healthy cats as an outcome to shelter entry is of concern for shelters, councils, and the community. Attempts made by government, welfare agencies, and community organisations to manage both cat entry to shelters and their subsequent euthanasia have achieved limited improvements. The percentage of cats euthanased has remained constant for the past decade, and a lack of fundamental statistical information about cat admission to shelters makes it difficult to understand the extent of the excess cat problem, to develop effective management strategies, and to evaluate the success of strategies employed.The aim of this thesis was to rigorously examine cat admissions and outcomes at RSPCA shelters throughout Australia. With this information it was possible to begin to address the paucity of available data and establish a nuanced description of the cat population admitted to shelters and the risk of euthanasia. From this, evidence-based recommendations for policy development, preventative measures, and future interventions were developed.Almost half of RSPCA cat admissions were stray (47%) and, when age, gender, breed, desexed status prior to admission, feral status, and year were accounted for, strays were just as likely as owner-surrendered cats to be rehomed (OR1.1; 95% CI 1.0-1.2: P<0.001). The percentage of cats categorised as desexed prior to admission was high (36%) in comparison to other studies, but low considering that only 47% of owner-surrendered cats were desexed and the reported desexing rate for owned cats is 90% or more. No differences in monthly adult cat admission patterns were observed when compared to December (the month with the highest overall cat intake). However, seasonal admission patterns differed significantly for kitten admissions (regardless of the kitten age definition for each state), with most kittens admitted in the summer months (November -February) (P<0.001). The most common reason for surrender of cats was for owner-related reasons (82%); the most frequent was due to accommodation issues (21% of all owner-related reasons for surrender). Overall, 58% of 195,387 cat admissions included in this research were euthanased as an outcome to admission. The most common reasons were medical (31%) and age (22%).When shelter practices were scrutinised, it was found that the presence and enforcement of quarantine measures on admission of new cats, the provision of climbing enrichment, and shelter capacity were all significantly associated with the risk of euthanasia. Additionally, 3 from the participants in our study, it was revealed that shelters generally operated on an all or nothing approach to policy and practices. Interestingly, the presence or absence of behavioural assessments for cats, age specific policy, and attitudes of decision makers were not significantly associated with the risk of euthanasia.One of the important conclusions derived from these findings is that a...

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“…Past research has focused on the damaging psychological impact animal workers that must euthanize animals on a regular basis experience (Arluke 1991, Arluke 2003, Frommer and Arluke 1999, Rohlf and Bennett 2005. Workers are at risk for PTSD, sleep disruption, chronic illness, high blood pressure, depression and anxiety (Rohlf and Bennett 2005).…”

Section: Gender Differences On the Mmomentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and leadership in animal sheltering organizations.

Sinski¹

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Loving Them to Death: Blame-Displacing Strategies of Animal Shelter Workers and Surrenderers

Cited by 61 publications

References 14 publications

Just a Dog : Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves

Just a Dog : Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves

The Australian excess cat population: An exploration of cat admissions and outcomes to RSPCA shelters

Gender and leadership in animal sheltering organizations.

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