The widespread use of the term “foster fail” in animal rescue suggests that it happens often, but no research has explored the prevalence of volunteers adopting their foster animals or whether the phenomenon is really a “failure&rdq...
Problem behaviours in dogs rehomed through animal shelters can jeopardise the long-term success of adoptions. In this study, data from 61 adolescent and adult dog adoptions that occurred through an animal shelter in Auckland, New Zealand, from 1 Nove...
This study explored possible associations between adoption discounts, length-of-stay (LOS), and adoption rates for dogs at a municipal (council) shelter in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, over a one-year period (4 April 2023–3 April 2024). Da...
Responses from an adopter survey (n = 1,491) determined reasons for pet selection, type of information received by the adopter, and the context in which the animal’s behavior was observed. Appearance of the animal, social behavior with adopter, and p...
Although the adoption rate of dogs and cats from animal shelters has increased, a proportion of animals are returned to the shelter after they are adopted. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors informing the return of 102 dogs to an ani...
The percentage of adult cats euthanized in animal shelters is greater than that of kittens because adult cats are less likely to be adopted. This study aimed to provide evidence to inform the design of strategies to encourage adult cat adoptions. One...
This current study investigated the trends in public animal shelter intakes and outcomes and the workload of shelter veterinarians in Taiwan from 2012 to 2020 and reports spatial, temporal, and socioeconomic factors associated with these trends. Info...
(1) Background: This study investigates the impact of social vulnerability, as quantified by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), on animal shelter intakes and adoptions, and the flow of animals between SVI groups at seven shelters within the United...
Recent statistics suggest that the percentage of animals adopted from shelters or rescue organizations is lower than expected, especially given the number of animals available for adoption. To help increase adoption rates, animal shelters often adver...
Millions of animals are adopted from animal shelters in the United States each year, although some are returned post-adoption, which can decrease both the animals’ chances of future adoptions and the owners’ willingness to adopt again. In...
Municipal animal shelters play a crucial role in rescuing abandoned animals, managing free-roaming populations, and promoting animal welfare. This seven-year retrospective study analyzed 2291 animals (1132 dogs, 1159 cats) admitted to a Portuguese mu...
Animal shelters must incorporate empirically validated programs to increase life-saving measures; however, altering existing protocols is often a challenge. The current study assessed the feasibility of nine animal shelters within the United States t...
It is estimated that 2.5 million cats enter animal shelters in the United States every year and as few as 20% leave the shelter alive. Of those adopted, the greatest risk to post-adoption human animal bond is unrealistic expectations set by the ado...
Anecdotal reports indicate that many animal shelters experienced increased adoption and foster care rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet peer-reviewed evidence is lacking. In this pilot survey of 14 animal shelters in the Northeastern United State...
Animal protection, which also comprises the subject of abandoned and stray animals, has become a pressing and widely discussed topic. The aim of this study was to compare dogs and cats from two shelters in a selected region of the Czech Republic, bas...
Several factors may influence cats’ length of stay (LoS) within the shelter environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential influence that baby schema (characteristic facial features of infants, related to perceived ‘c...
This paper explores the ethical imperative of rehoming all healthy animals of sentient species after experiments have finished or when they have become otherwise redundant. We take into account disparate perspectives in animal ethics and see how they...
Human interaction is one of the most consistently effective interventions that can improve the welfare of shelter-living dogs. Time out of the kennel with a person has been shown to reduce physiological measures of stress as can leaving the shelter f...
Domestic cats are euthanized at high rates in shelters, and appropriate matching between cats and adopters is believed to improve adoption success and reduce euthanasia rates. The ASPCA’s Meet Your Match® Feline-ality™ program, design...
In shelters it is usual to conduct standardised behaviour assessments on admitted dogs. The information gathered from the assessment is used to identify dogs that are suitable for adoption and assist in matching the dog with suitable adopters. These...
Homeless cats are a major problem in Europe, with hundreds of thousands abandoned every year. While many die, others can adapt to a lifestyle of roaming freely and establish community cat populations that tend to cluster together in groups. These gro...
Most animal shelters conduct behavioral evaluations before making dogs available for adoption. However, little information exists on whether behaviors displayed during these assessments predict a dog’s length of stay at the shelter. We reviewed nearl...
More efficient livestock production systems are necessary, considering that only 41% of global meat demand will be met by 2050. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis has clearly illustrated the necessity of building sustainable and stable agri-food...
Better understanding of factors contributing to live release (rehoming) may help shelters improve outcomes. In this cross-sectional, exploratory, non-interventional study, data for all intakes (n = 21,409) for dogs eligible for rehoming from 1 Januar...
There are several models for e-service learning, from traditional (without any online content) to extreme online service learning (without any actual interactive elements) which suggested by L. S. Waldner. In Type III, (hybrid) e-service learning, th...
As the need for food safety rises, consumers are becoming more interested in certified safe pork products, such as those with safety certification or traceability. Implementing GAHP guidelines for pig farming is one potential approach to achieving fo...
One of the main concerns of the human–dog relationship is today associated with the quality life inside the kennels, which are very often regarded as animal dump where dogs are exiled, representing a burden on society. In the present study we s...
Pet ownership is the most common form of human–animal interaction (HAI), is prevalent worldwide and confers benefits for the health and wellbeing of humans. Here, we examined a large set of anonymised data from the Royal Society for the Prevent...
Not all dog adoptions are successful. This two-year retrospective study used survival (i.e., time-to-event) analyses to investigate readmissions for dogs adopted from RSPCA Queensland shelters between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. A better und...
Published research estimates shelter dogs’ post-adoption returns at 7–20%, with a significant percentage of these occurring in the first month post-adoption. To better understand factors that contribute to the success or failure of long-term rehoming...
The objective of this study was to identify phenotypic characteristics of dogs predictive of adoption after being received into a shelter. Individual dog records for 2017 were requested from shelters in five states that received municipal funding and...
The use of nonhuman animals in biomedical research is regulated under stringent conditions, not only in response to societal attitudes towards animal experimentation but also because ethical responsibility in scientific research requires researchers...
To identify characteristics that distinguish long-term (LT: stay > 1 year) from short-term shelter dogs (ST: ≤5 months) and to investigate if a long-term stay impairs welfare, we compared ST and LT dogs in Austrian no-kill shelters. Analyses in...
Animal welfare organizations routinely accept large numbers of cats with unknown histories, and whose backgrounds vary from well-socialized pets to cats that have had little or no contact with humans. Agencies are challenged with making the determina...
Modern practices of industrial farming, such as mineral fertilization, caused a widespread degradation of agricultural land and water bodies in Europe. Different farm management strategies exist to reduce the impact of mineral fertilization while pre...
Some shelters in the United States consider dogs identified as food aggressive during behavioral evaluations to be unadoptable. We surveyed adopters of dogs from a New York shelter to examine predictive abilities of shelter behavioral evaluations and...
Information on the practical use of cognitive enrichment in zoos is scarce. This survey aimed to identify where cognitive enrichment is being used while identifying factors that may limit its implementation and success. Distributed in eight languages...
Early socialization and appropriate adoption time are key factors in shaping canine behavior and welfare. Stress and behavioral challenges are major concerns for owners, often leading to abandonment. Stress can be assessed through physiological and b...
Due to resource limitations, animal shelters in Australia historically have focused on rehoming animals considered ‘highly adoptable’. Increasingly, animal shelters in Australia are rehoming animals with pre-existing medical and/or behavi...
Research facilities have established animal adoption programs for laboratory animals. However, adoption to private owners is not an option for non-human primates (NHPs), so their post-research life presents a unique challenge. Here, we describe a col...
The five freedoms and, more recently, the five domains of animal welfare provide internationally recognised frameworks to evaluate animal welfare practices which recognise both the physical and mental wellbeing needs of animals, providing a balanced...
This study explores pig producers’ perceptions regarding the use of technologies for animal welfare in pig farming, highlighting the gap between the productive sector and academic institutions. The research was conducted through a questionnaire...
To increase the public’s awareness of and exposure to animals needing homes, PetRescue, Australia’s largest online directory of animals in need of adoption, lists all currently available animals from rescue and welfare shelters nationwide. The curren...
The contribution of the livestock sector to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as the worsening of animal welfare, with the intensification of production methods, have become increasingly relevant. Our contribution investigates the environmental...
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 pop...
Dogs are a popular companion animal in the United States; however, dog acquisition is often a contentious subject. Adoption is often cited as an ethical and popular method of acquisition but interpretation of the term ‘adoption’ may vary....
Over the past four decades the dietary needs of the global population have been elevated, with increased consumption of animal products predominately due to the advancing economies of South America and Asia. As a result, livestock production systems...
Canada’s current non-legislated oversight system for animal-based science not only fails to adequately incentivize the replacement of sentient animals as best scientific practice in any meaningful way, but also fails to adequately protect those...
Cattle are ruminant animals that produce enteric methane (CH4) emissions as a byproduct of their natural digestive process. U.S. beef producers have been receiving pressure to reduce production emissions. The scientific community continues to researc...
Surgical sterilization is a common procedure in veterinary practice; yet, the age at which to perform said procedure is still a controversial topic since the common practice of performing this surgery at the “conventional” age of 6 months...
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