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...
This research examines the ways people acquire dogs in the US as well as the ways the dogs leave the household and the way these differ by income level in seven geographically diverse study communities. A web-based panel survey was distributed and re...
Effective vaccines are needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty golden hamsters were inoculated with two promising vaccine candidates and eighteen animals were used in pilot trials with viral challenge. ELISA assays were performed to determine en...
In 2018, Dogs Trust (UK) launched the Post Adoption Support project, the largest known prospective cohort study investigating behavioural and health problems post-rehoming of dogs. Individuals adopting a dog from any UK Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre are...
Access to comprehensive municipal pound, animal welfare shelters, and rescue group data for admissions and outcomes for stray and owner-relinquished cats in Australia is currently lacking. This hinders effective assessment of existing management stra...
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...
Some nonhuman animal shelters have developed rehoming programs for black cats to remedy what they believe are their higher rates of euthanasia and lower rates of adoption. This study reviews humans’ preferences/aversions to cats of various coat...
The off-the-track Thoroughbred’s (OTTTB’s) suitability for equestrian retraining and rehoming should always be subject to behavioral considerations. Certain attributes may be advantageous to a horse’s racing performance but unfavora...
There is no national system for monitoring numbers of dogs entering municipal council pounds and shelters in Australia, or their outcomes. This limits understanding of the surrendered and stray dog issue, and prevents the evaluation of management str...
The present structured, systematic and comprehensive welfare evaluation of an injured working farm dog using the Five Domains Model is of interest in its own right. It is also an example for others wanting to apply the Model to welfare evaluations in...
The progressive aging of the population and the consequent growth of individuals with neurological diseases and related chronic disabilities, will lead to a general increase in the costs and resources needed to ensure treatment and care services. In...
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...
Dogs are among the most popular pets worldwide, and ownership is increasing in many regions. Responsible pet ownership positively impacts animal welfare, yet little is known about the drivers of pet choices or their regional variation. To address thi...
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...
Measures aimed at reducing the length of stay (LOS) of cats in shelters can promote animal welfare and more efficient use of resources. The extent to which variables shown to impact LOS are broadly applicable is unclear. The aim of this study was to...
Using euthanasia to manage dog and cat overpopulation causes health issues and emotional stress in employees involved, increases staff turnover, and has financial, moral and ethical ramifications for communities. Welfare agencies and local government...
A prolonged length of stay (LOS) in a rehoming shelter can be detrimental to cat behaviour, health and welfare. Research shows LOS is impacted by animal signalment, behaviour and personality, whether or not previously owned or a stray, and considerat...
Dogs are often relinquished because of behavioural issues which may be exacerbated in rehoming centres. Prison-based dog training programmes (DTPs) may enhance outcomes for rescue dogs by providing socialisation and training opportunities to improve...
Managing relinquished/stray dogs is a significant socio-economic and ethical challenge necessitating structured policies to ensure animal welfare and integration into society. Critical to successful rehoming is careful assessment of a dog’s tem...
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...
There are approximately 200,000 unwanted horses annually in the United States. This study aimed to better understand the potential homes for horses that need to be re-homed. Using an independent survey company through an Omnibus telephone (land and c...
This article seeks to examine how the Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali explores and rethinks ideas of “home” and travel in his poetry. Ali’s poetry is a layered affective terrain in which his complex, entangled emotions surrou...
This novel qualitative study identifies challenges and opportunities to improve dog welfare in Ireland, as perceived by dog welfare organisations (DWOs), a previously underutilised stakeholder. This study sought the views of this predominantly volunt...
Feral horses, also known as brumbies, are widely distributed across Australia with some populations being managed largely by human intervention. Rehoming of suitable feral horses following passive trapping has wide community acceptance as a managemen...
The process of domestication is likely to have led to the development of adaptive interspecific social abilities in animals. Such abilities are particularly interesting in less gregarious animals, such as cats. One notable social behaviour that cats...
Assessing dogs’ quality of life (QoL) pre- and post-adoption is crucial for shelters and rehoming organisations making decisions with far reaching and dire consequences for both dogs and humans. Making these assessments objectively and in a sta...
In August 2008, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, commenced a trap-neuter-return (TNR) program to manage the population of approximately 69 free-roaming unowned urban cats on its Kensington campus. The goals of the progra...
This retrospective study of cat admissions to RSPCA Queensland shelters describes changes associated with improved outcomes ending in live release in 2016 compared to 2011. There were 13,911 cat admissions in 2011 and 13,220 in 2016, with approximate...
There has been a recent trend towards keeping non-traditional companion animals, also known as exotic pets. These pets include parrots, reptiles, amphibians and rabbits, as well as small species of rodent such as degus and guinea pigs. Many of these...
We critique the recent article by Wolf et al. (2019) that claims scientific merit for reducing the number of stray cats in Australia through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs, and then we provide an inventory of biological, welfare, and economic reas...
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 commercial greyhound racing industry in New Zealand is struggling with an eroding social license and ‘on-notice’ status. Multiple independent reviews of the industry have identified ongoing issues of animal welfare during and between...
Racehorse welfare is a prominent, public issue which affects nearly every aspect of the racing industry. Thoroughbred care after race career completion has garnered increasing attention from the equine industry, general public, and animal welfare gro...
Some domestic dogs aggressively guard resources. Canine resource guarding impacts public health through dog bites and affects dog welfare through adoption and euthanasia policies at animal shelters. However, little is known about the demographic char...
While traditionally people relinquish their pets to an animal shelter or pound, the internet provides a newer method to re-home. We analyzed advertisements (ads) on the largest website in Australia for trading dogs and cats: Gumtree. Data was collect...
Chimp Haven is a sanctuary for chimpanzees retired from biomedical research, rescued from the pet trade, or re-homed after other organizations could no longer care for them. To provide optimal care for over 300 chimpanzees, Chimp Haven’s animal...
Shelter environments are stressful for dogs, as they must cope with many stimuli over which they have little control. This can lead to behavioural changes, negatively affect their welfare and downgrade the human‐animal bond, affecting re-homing succe...
Human-directed aggression by domestic dogs is a major worldwide public health problem. The causes of aggression are complex, and research in this area often has to balance ecological validity with pragmatic controls; accordingly, it often does not me...
Many healthy adult cats are euthanised annually in shelters, and novel approaches are required to reduce euthanasia rates. Waiving adoption fees is one such approach. However, concerns that less responsible owners will be attracted to free events per...
It is crucial for good dog welfare that humans be able to accurately and adequately recognize and meet dogs’ needs. However, humans may do a poor job of recognizing dogs’ needs due to their tendency to anthropomorphize. The aim of this st...
Behaviour problems are amongst the most common reasons given for relinquishing dogs to rehoming centres. Some behaviour problems may be amenable to being tackled pre-emptively with classes educating owners on basic dog training and understanding beha...
Dog bites are a public health concern that also implicates animal welfare, with negative outcomes such as rehoming or euthanasia for the animals responsible. Previous research has shown that the severity of dog-bite injuries reflects multiple factors...
Trap, neuter and return (TNR) describes a non-lethal approach to the control of urban stray cat populations. Currently, in Australia, lethal control is common, with over 85% of cats entering some municipal pounds euthanized. No research has been publ...
In Switzerland, the importance of transparency in animal experimentation is emphasized by the Swiss Federal Council, recognizing the public’s great interest in this matter. Federal reporting on animal experimentation indicates a total of 585,99...
Dogs are the most common pet animal species in the UK. Little is known about information and advice gathering within the process of dog acquisition, nor what pre-acquisition research encompasses. This study aimed to better understand the preparatory...