Rehabilitation program for urban free–ranging dogs

Demirbas, Y. S., Safak, E., Emre, B., Piskin, İ., Ozturk, H., & Pereira, G. D. G. (2017). Rehabilitation program for urban free–ranging dogs in a shelter environment can improve behavior and welfare. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 18, 1-6.

The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of a rehabilitation program on improving behavior and welfare of a group of urban free–ranging dogs kept in a dog shelter. In this study, a rehabilitation protocol including training and adaptability to home environment was applied to 8 urban free–ranging dogs kept in a dog shelter in Ankara, Turkey. At the beginning of the study, all dogs' reactions were assessed by short test situations to divide them into 2 groups, that is, dogs with behavioral changes such as fear and aggression (group 1) and dogs without behavioral changes (group 2). Behavior and emotional assessments were done in the beginning and at the end of the program that lasted 6 weeks. It was observed that most dogs were obeying basic signals or requests on and off leash. In the second assessment, most of the dogs were displaying relaxed body posture while interacting with humans. Nevertheless, only significant difference was found between the groups in adaptability to home environment (Mann-Whitney U test, P < 0.05). None of the dogs in group 1 were evaluated as relaxed, whereas all the dogs in group 2 were displaying relaxed body posture, thus a positive emotional state, in home environment on the first day. Findings of this study showed that a standardized rehabilitation program including training and adaptation to home environment might be beneficial for some urban free–ranging dogs to improve their behaviors and welfare in shelter environment. Moreover, it can be suggested that urban free–ranging dogs can easily be trained and adapted to humans in case where they did not have intense fear and/or aggression.

Involvement in a Northern California community on the feral cat problem

Lando, C. A. (2016). Building involvement in a Northern California community on a targeted public health issue: a service announcement on the feral cat problem in Chico.  Faculty of California State University, Chico

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the health and environmental issues caused by feral cats and to offer solutions to control the growth of feral cat colonies in a Northern California community. Research supports the claim that feral cats, or community cats are a community problem and a community’s responsibility. Therefore, the local government, local animal welfare groups, and concerned citizens need to work together to find viable solutions.
Furthermore, the City of Chico’s Animal Control Officer estimates there are approximately 14,000 feral cats living on the streets and in the parks of the city of Chico. Several animal welfare organizations have worked to reduce this number through adoption, offering permanent housing, or trapping, vaccinating, neutering and returning cats to their colonies. The city’s euthanasia policy is only in effect for sick animals brought into the shelter by citizens. Due to budget cuts and lack of space, the city cannot house abandoned or surrendered animals. Therefore, the city refers calls about feral cats to one of the other animal welfare agencies.
The results of this project have shown that a collaborative organization consisting of members of concerned citizens and animal welfare groups can offer the best solutions to the feral cat dilemma. Accessing information about the ways other communities have addressed the feral cat problem is helpful. Working together individual organizations can share strategies for implementing fundraising activities, publicity, grant writing, and other issues such as purchasing pet supplies and food.
In addition, California State University, Chico, needs to take a more active role in disseminating information to its students about not releasing cats at the end of the school year. This information should be provided during orientation and through the university’s newspaper. Research has shown that an ongoing public service announcement through television and radio is one of the best ways to reach the most people. Public service announcements offer information and resources available to
citizens for assistance with a feral cat problem. 

Longer breeding seasons, more kittens: are cats reacting to climate change?

Animal behaviourist Erica Pankhurst at the Animal Welfare League with cats available for adoption. Photo: Peter Rae

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/nsw/longer-breeding-seasons-more-kittens-are-cats-reacting-to-climate-change-20160208-gmo5bl#ixzz3zeO26IQd
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Epidemiology of Dog and Cat Abandonment in Spain

Fatjó, J., Bowen, J., García, E., Calvo, P., Rueda, S., Amblás, S., & Lalanza, J. F. (2015). Epidemiology of Dog and Cat Abandonment in Spain (2008–2013). Animals, 5(2), 426-441.

Millions of pets are abandoned worldwide every year, which is an important animal welfare and financial problem. This paper was divided into three studies. Our first two studies were designed as a national survey of animal shelters to profile the population of stray dogs and cats, as well as to gather information on both relinquishment and adoption. The aim of our third study was to test the impact of identification on the recovery of dogs entering animal shelters. Studies one and two indicate that more than 100,000 dogs and more than 30,000 cats enter animal shelters annually in Spain. We observed a seasonal effect in the number of admissions in cats. Two-thirds of dogs and cats entering shelters were found as strays, while the rest were relinquished directly to the shelter. Most pets admitted to animal shelters were adult, non-purebred, and without a microchip, with the majority of dogs being medium sized. Adult dogs spent significantly more time in shelters than puppies. While most animals were either adopted or recovered by their owner, a considerable percentage remained at the shelter or was euthanized. The identification of dogs with a microchip increased by 3-fold the likelihood of them being returned to the owner.

Sponsored neutering programs reduces shelter intake and euthanasia

White, S. C., Jefferson, E., & Levy, J. K. (2010). Impact of publicly sponsored neutering programs on animal population dynamics at animal shelters: The New Hampshire and Austin experiences. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 13(3), 191-212.


This study found that government-funded surgical sterilization of companion animals has been widely promoted as a means of decreasing shelter intake and euthanasia. However, little information is available about the true impact of these programs on community and shelter nonhuman animal population dynamics. This study estimated the impact of the Animal Population Control Program in New Hampshire by comparing shelter intake and euthanasia data before and after the onset of the neutering initiative. Regression analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in cat intake and euthanasia during the years after program onset, a trend that appears to begin prior to the program's initiation; however, there was no decrease in dog intake or euthanasia. This study also estimated the impact of the Austin-based EmanciPET Free Spay/Neuter Program by comparing shelter intake and euthanasia data from the targeted program areas versus nonprogram areas within the city. Regression analysis demonstrated a significantly lower rate of increase for dog and cat intake and euthanasia in the program areas. Prospective studies should determine the effectiveness and affordability of different models for funding and delivering neutering services.

Effect of high-impact targeted trap-neuter-return and adoption of community cats on cat intake to a shelter

Levy, J. K., Isaza, N. M., & Scott, K. C. (2014). Effect of high-impact targeted trap-neuter-return and adoption of community cats on cat intake to a shelter.The Veterinary Journal.

Approximately 2–3 million cats enter animal shelters annually in the United States. A large proportion of these are unowned community cats that have no one to reclaim them and may be too unsocialized for adoption. More than half of impounded cats are euthanased due to shelter crowding, shelter-acquired disease or feral behavior. Trap-neuter-return (TNR), an alternative to shelter impoundment, improves cat welfare and reduces the size of cat colonies, but has been regarded as too impractical to reduce cat populations on a larger scale or to limit shelter cat intake. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of TNR concentrated in a region of historically high cat impoundments in a Florida community. A 2-year program was implemented to capture and neuter at least 50% of the estimated community cats in a single 11.9 km² zip code area, followed by return to the neighborhood or adoption. Trends in shelter cat intake from the target zip code were compared to the rest of the county.

A total of 2366 cats, representing approximately 54% of the projected community cat population in the targeted area, were captured for the TNR program over the 2-year study period. After 2 years, per capita shelter intake was 3.5-fold higher and per capita shelter euthanasia was 17.5-fold higher in the non-target area than in the target area. Shelter cat impoundment from the target area where 60 cats/1000 residents were neutered annually decreased by 66% during the 2-year study period, compared to a decrease of 12% in the non-target area, where only 12 cats/1000 residents were neutered annually. High-impact TNR combined with the adoption of socialized cats and nuisance resolution counseling for residents is an effective tool for reducing shelter cat intake.

Effect on shelter cat intakes and euthanasia from a shelter neuter return project

Johnson, K. L., & Cicirelli, J. (2014). Study of the effect on shelter cat intakes and euthanasia from a shelter neuter return project of 10,080 cats from March 2010 to June 2014. PeerJ, 2, e646.

Cat impoundments were increasing at the municipal San Jose animal shelter in 2009, despite long-term successful low cost sterilization programs and attempts to lower the euthanasia rate of treatable-rehabilitatable impounds beginning in 2008. San Jose Animal Care and Services implemented a new strategy designed to control overall feral cat reproduction by altering and returning feral cats entering the shelter system, rather than euthanizing the cats. The purpose of this case study was to determine how the program affected the shelter cat intakes over time. In just over four years, 10,080 individual healthy adult feral cats, out of 11,423 impounded at the shelter during this time frame, were altered and returned to their site of capture. Included in the 11,423 cats were 862 cats impounded from one to four additional times for a total of 958 (9.5%) recaptures of the previously altered 10,080 cats. The remaining 385 healthy feral cats were euthanized at the shelter from March 2010 to June 2014. Four years into the program, researchers observed cat and kitten impounds decreased 29.1%; euthanasia decreased from over 70% of intakes in 2009, to 23% in 2014. Euthanasia in the shelter for Upper Respiratory Disease decreased 99%; dead cat pick up off the streets declined 20%. Dog impounds did not similarly decline over the four years. No other laws or program changes were implemented since the beginning of the program.

Reasons for relinquishment and return of domestic cats to rescue shelters

Casey, R. A., Vandenbussche, S., Bradshaw, J. W., & Roberts, M. A. (2009). Reasons for relinquishment and return of domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) to rescue shelters in the UK. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals, 22(4), 347-358.

Significant numbers of cats enter rescue and re-homing facilities each year, over half of which are relinquished directly by owners. Identifying the reasons why owners decide to give up their pet is an important step in the development of education strategies to encourage retention of cats by their owners. In addition, identifying why adopting owners fail to retain their new cats is important in the refinement of homing policies. Characteristics of 6,089 cats relinquished and returned to 11 rescue facilities in the UK were recorded over a year. In addition, information was collected on the reason why owners gave up, or brought back, their pet. Sixty percent of cats and kittens entering shelters were relinquished by owners, with 19% being due to owner circumstances, such as moving to rented accommodation or changes in family circumstances. Seven percent were for behavioral reasons, and 5% because of the occurrence of allergy or asthma in owners. Returned cats were significantly more likely to be older (Mann Whitney U, Z = –9.167, p < 0.001) and neutered (Pearson χ² = 110.0, df = 2, p < 0.001) than the general relinquished population. The reasons for original relinquishment and return of owned cats were also significantly different (Pearson χ² = 84.4, df = 6, p < 0.001), with 38% of cats being returned for behavioral reasons, and 18% because of allergy or asthma. The commonest behavioral reason for both relinquishment and return was aggression between cats in the household.

Bias against adoption of stray cats

Dybdall, K., & Strasser, R. (2014). Is There a Bias Against Stray Cats in Shelters? People's Perception of Shelter Cats and How It Influences Adoption Time. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals.

The determination of adoptability is a fundamental issue facing shelters wishing to rehome cats. Many shelters in the United States cannot keep a cat indefinitely and increased time in the shelter environment may lead to reduced animal welfare due to chronic stress or euthanasia. In a series of studies, we examined whether entry type (whether a cat came to the shelter as an owner-surrendered or stray) as well as a cat 's perceived social behavior influenced adoption times and people 's ratings of adoptability. In study 1, we used archival data from 1,089 cats in a Midwest shelter and found that owner-surrendered cats were adopted significantly sooner than stray cats. In study 2, we further explored the difference between owner-surrendered and stray cats by measuring the social behavior of 56 shelter cats and their time before adoption. Similarly, we found in this sample that owner-surrendered cats were adopted on average nine days sooner than stray cats. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that entry type was a significant predictor of days to adopt, and that latency to approach a human significantly improved the prediction model. Further, how quickly stray cats, but not owner-surrendered cats, approached a human experimenter correlated significantly with a shortened adoption time in the actual adoption scenario. Finally, in study 3, we used an on-line survey to present 12 dual-image pictures of cats and manipulated whether the information about the cat listed each as owner-surrendered or stray cat. We asked 120 college students to rate their likelihood of adopting each pictured cat. When participants were asked about reasons they would adopt a particular cat, 81% reported friendly behavior toward them; yet when viewing the mirror images in the survey (no behavioral information available), cats received higher adoptability ratings when presented as owner-surrendered compared with the flipped image of that cat presented as a stray. Taken together, these studies suggest that adopters' perception of stray cats, as well as cats' interactions with humans, influence the amount of time a cat remains in the shelter prior to adoption.

The policies of stray pet population control in Lithuania

Taruskaite-Vanebo, S. (2013). The policies of stray pet population control in Lithuania: a study of government contractors as opposed to non-profit volunteer based organizations. Master Thesis. Norvegian University of Life Sciences.

Within the thesis, the trending methods of stray pet population care and control are considered, the emphasis put on the differences between governmentally funded institutions of sanitation and the non-governmental animal shelters; significant attention paid to the implementation and overall effectiveness of both systems, with the differentiation of financial success and their effectiveness in saving animals and finding new homes. Within the framework of the thesis, the relationship between those two types of organizations is considered with an attempt to put some light on the impact they have on each other and how such dynamics enforce the evolution in the methods and planning for the future. Furthermore, the expansion of the non-governmental animal shelter policies considered with comparisons to the municipally funded policies that rely on mass extermination of stray pets. Finally, the main reasons for establishment of non-governmental shelters are examined as well as possible implementations on the legal basis in conjunction to propagating the expansion and future of such shelters. The main comparison framework has been set for two main cities in Lithuania, Vilnius and Kaunas as they are the most representative of the current situation, providing the perfect medium since the beginning of the no-kill shelter establishment that competes with the municipally contracted institutions which still control the vast majority of the stray animal population care and control market.