The Influence of Brief Outing and Temporary Fostering Programs on Shelter Dog Welfare
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Shelter Recruitment and Enrollment
2.2. Programmatic Training and Support
2.3. Dogs
2.4. Brief Outings and Temporary Fostering Stays
2.5. Foster Caregivers
2.6. Intervention Impact and Program Performance
2.7. Data Analytic Approach
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive Statistics
3.1.1. Shelters
3.1.2. Dogs
3.1.3. Intervention
3.1.4. Foster Caregivers
3.2. Intervention and Non-Intervention Dogs
3.2.1. Intervention Impact on Shelter Outcomes
3.2.2. Intervention Impact on Length of Stay
3.3. Intervention Dogs
3.3.1. Duration of Brief Outings and Temporary Fostering Stays
3.3.2. Shelter Outcomes by Intake Type
3.3.3. Post-Intervention Length of Stay
3.4. Overall Intervention Performance
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Resource Level | M, Mdn Annual Budget | Annual Budget Range (Min–Max) | M, Mdn Animal Intake | Animal Intake Range (Min–Max) | M, Mdn Resources per Animal | Resources per Animal Range (Min–Max) | Shelters in This Dataset |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Very Low | 1.9 M, 965 K | 200 K–4.3 M | 10,867, 7215 | 826–29,595 | 209, 242 | 118–276 | 11 |
Low | 4.2 M, 3 M | 1.7 M–13 M | 10,016, 8118 | 3873–32,788 | 406, 403 | 370–439 | 9 |
Moderately Low | 2.2 M, 1.8 M | 730 K–4.3 M | 4077, 3241 | 1256–8916 | 562, 572 | 473–648 | 10 |
Moderate | 2.3 M, 1.2 M | 300 K–6.9 M | 3021, 1494 | 408–8834 | 759, 749 | 699–845 | 11 |
High | 8.4 M, 6.6 M | 1.5 M–23 M | 8244, 6377 | 1498–23,093 | 1028, 1022 | 918–1105 | 6 |
Very High | 7.4 M, 9.9 M | 386 K–14 M | 4299, 3478 | 241–8117 | 1849, 1647 | 1480–2852 | 11 |
Percent of Caregivers (%) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Resident Dogs in Home | ||||||
Type of Caregiver | n | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Not Reported |
Community Member | 174 | 70.1 | 21.3 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 0.6 |
Volunteer | 173 | 53.8 | 15.6 | 11.0 | 2.9 | 19.7 |
Staff | 42 | 28.6 | 26.2 | 23.8 | 19.1 | 2.4 |
Not Reported | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Total | 408 | 50.9 | 19.1 | 12.5 | 3.8 | 13.7 |
Brief Outing | Temporary Fostering | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fixed Effect | Est | SE | df | t | p | Est | SE | df | t | p |
(Intercept) | 1.46 | 0.08 | 53 | 18.07 | <0.001 | 1.60 | 0.05 | 139 | 29.72 | <0.001 |
Intervention vs. Population | 0.88 | 0.03 | 6235 | 26.81 | <0.001 | 0.89 | 0.05 | 4123 | 16.30 | <0.001 |
Female vs. Male | −0.01 | 0.02 | 6291 | −0.28 | 0.781 | −0.11 | 0.03 | 4154 | −3.71 | 0.002 |
Dog Weight | 0.01 | 0.00 | 6301 | 17.34 | <0.001 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 4156 | 9.83 | <0.001 |
Dog Age | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6298 | 6.87 | <0.001 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4154 | 2.98 | 0.003 |
Stray vs. Owner Surrender | 0.48 | 0.03 | 6316 | 16.72 | <0.001 | 0.53 | 0.04 | 4098 | 14.99 | <0.001 |
Cruelty/Neglect vs. Owner Surrender | 0.56 | 0.06 | 6308 | 9.72 | <0.001 | 0.94 | 0.11 | 4128 | 8.38 | <0.001 |
Transfer In vs. Owner Surrender | 0.13 | 0.03 | 6309 | 4.18 | <0.001 | 0.18 | 0.04 | 4118 | 4.57 | <0.001 |
Outcome Counts of Brief Outing Dogs | Outcome Counts of Temporary Fostering Dogs | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intake Type | Adoption | Remain in Care | Transfer Out | Euthanized, Lost, or Died in Care | Adoption | Remain in Care | Transfer Out | Euthanized, Lost, or Died in Care |
Owner Surrender | 341 | 147 | 40 | 6 | 122 | 27 | 1 | 2 |
Stray | 319 | 143 | 93 | 25 | 83 | 21 | 13 | 0 |
Transfer In | 275 | 97 | 7 | 3 | 134 | 19 | 3 | 1 |
Cruelty/Neglect | 11 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Shelter Outcomes for Brief Outing Dogs | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Remain in Care vs. Adopted | Transfer Out vs. Adopted | Euthanized, Lost, or Died in Care vs. Adopted | |||||||
Covariates | RR | LCL | UCL | RR | LCL | UCL | RR | LCL | UCL |
(Intercept) | 0.19 | 0.12 | 0.29 | 0.18 | 0.09 | 0.35 | 0.01 | 0.001 | 0.03 |
Female vs. Male Dogs | 1.06 | 0.83 | 1.34 | 0.86 | 0.59 | 1.26 | 0.56 | 0.26 | 1.22 |
Dog Weight (kg) | 1.02 | 1.01 | 1.04 | 0.97 | 0.95 | 0.99 | 1.07 | 1.02 | 1.12 |
Dog Age (months) | 1.01 | 1.00 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.00 | 1.01 | 0.99 | 0.97 | 1.01 |
Stray vs. Owner Surrender | 1.16 | 0.87 | 1.54 | 2.44 | 1.59 | 3.74 | 3.86 | 1.52 | 9.84 |
Cruelty/Neglect vs. Owner Surrender | 1.60 | 0.60 | 4.23 | 4.49 | 1.46 | 13.81 | 11.98 | 2.12 | 67.78 |
Transfer In vs. Owner Surrender | 0.98 | 0.71 | 1.34 | 0.22 | 0.09 | 0.50 | 0.77 | 0.19 | 3.16 |
Shelter Outcomes for Temporarily Fostered Dogs | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Remain in Care vs. Adopted | Transfer Out vs. Adopted | Euthanized, Lost, or Died in Care vs. Adopted | |||||||
Covariates | RR | LCL | UCL | RR | LCL | UCL | RR | LCL | UCL |
(Intercept) | 0.17 | 0.06 | 0.51 | 0.002 | 0 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.001 | 0.99 |
Number of Resident Dogs | 0.82 | 0.56 | 1.21 | 1.94 | 1.18 | 3.19 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Female vs. Male Dogs | 0.92 | 0.50 | 1.68 | 1.31 | 0.44 | 3.94 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Dog Weight (kg) | 1.01 | 0.98 | 1.04 | 1.06 | 0.99 | 1.13 | 1.04 | 0.92 | 1.18 |
Dog Age (months) | 1.00 | 0.10 | 1.01 | 0.99 | 0.97 | 1.01 | 0.10 | 0.97 | 1.03 |
Stray vs. Owner Surrender | 1.10 | 0.51 | 2.34 | 22.20 | 2.72 | 180.90 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Cruelty/Neglect vs. Owner Surrender | 6.35 | 0.34 | 117.10 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 |
Transfer In vs. Owner Surrender | 0.50 | 0.23 | 1.10 | 2.41 | 0.24 | 24.58 | 0.52 | 0.04 | 6.42 |
Effect | Est | SE | t | p |
---|---|---|---|---|
(Intercept) | 37.04 | 13.68 | 2.71 | 0.010 |
Intervention (Temporary Fostering vs. Brief Outing) | −50.05 | 34.55 | −1.45 | 0.154 |
Percent Volunteers | 22.44 | 15.85 | 1.42 | 0.164 |
Percent Community Members | 62.70 | 14.68 | 4.27 | <0.001 |
Shelter Resources | 0.01 | 0.00 | 2.27 | 0.028 |
Municipal vs. Nonprofit w/Municipal Contracts | −12.85 | 6.20 | −2.08 | 0.044 |
Nonprofit vs. Nonprofit w/Municipal Contracts | −8.38 | 6.51 | −1.29 | 0.205 |
Managed vs. Open Admission | −1.17 | 6.19 | −0.19 | 0.851 |
Limited vs. Open Admission | −10.73 | 8.85 | −1.21 | 0.232 |
Intervention Type by Percent Volunteers | 29.77 | 40.99 | 0.73 | 0.471 |
Intervention Type by Percent Community Members | 5.30 | 36.58 | 0.15 | 0.885 |
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Gunter, L.M.; Blade, E.M.; Gilchrist, R.J.; Nixon, B.J.; Reed, J.L.; Platzer, J.M.; Wurpts, I.C.; Feuerbacher, E.N.; Wynne, C.D.L. The Influence of Brief Outing and Temporary Fostering Programs on Shelter Dog Welfare. Animals 2023, 13, 3528. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13223528
Gunter LM, Blade EM, Gilchrist RJ, Nixon BJ, Reed JL, Platzer JM, Wurpts IC, Feuerbacher EN, Wynne CDL. The Influence of Brief Outing and Temporary Fostering Programs on Shelter Dog Welfare. Animals. 2023; 13(22):3528. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13223528
Chicago/Turabian StyleGunter, Lisa M., Emily M. Blade, Rachel J. Gilchrist, Betsy J. Nixon, Jenifer L. Reed, JoAnna M. Platzer, Ingrid C. Wurpts, Erica N. Feuerbacher, and Clive D. L. Wynne. 2023. "The Influence of Brief Outing and Temporary Fostering Programs on Shelter Dog Welfare" Animals 13, no. 22: 3528. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13223528
APA StyleGunter, L. M., Blade, E. M., Gilchrist, R. J., Nixon, B. J., Reed, J. L., Platzer, J. M., Wurpts, I. C., Feuerbacher, E. N., & Wynne, C. D. L. (2023). The Influence of Brief Outing and Temporary Fostering Programs on Shelter Dog Welfare. Animals, 13(22), 3528. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13223528