Companion Animal Behavior & Welfare

welfare

animal welfare has been described as states of being, both mental and physical, that an animal experiences

animal welfare focuses on biological functioning, affective state, and how closely its living situation matches its natural state

welfare measurement and interventions

proximate welfare

• what the animal is currently experiencing. Physiological, behavioral, and cognitive measures are used

distal welfare

• the ultimate goal of animal sheltering: animals living in homes with people. length of stay and outcomes are measured

life for dogs living in shelters

• a variety of potential stressors

• excessive noise

• spatial restrictions

• social isolation

• loss of attachment figures

• lack of control and predictability

improving shelter dog welfare

human interaction is the most studied intervention in animal sheltering

• petting, being in the same room

foster programs with deployment and evaluation

brief outing with dogs made them 5x more likely to be adopted

sleepover dogs were 14x more likely to be adopted

• brief outings are beneficial as an adoption intervention to aid dog’s ultimate welfare

• temporary fostering is effective as both a proximate and distal welfare intervention

physiological measure of stress

• dogs had higher cortisol levels. Cortisol is one of the most widely used physiological stress markers in dogs

• IgA is less sensitive to arousal and may improve our ability to detect the psychological effects of potential stressors

• oxytocin was higher in dogs that had interventions

safety net fostering

the fostering of owned pets by animal shelter caregivers when owners are experiencing a temporary inability to provide care for them