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Companion Animals

Research relating to cats, dogs, birds, and other companion animals including rescue, sheltering, adoptions, and population.

In the Spotlight

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Pet Virginia Opossums and Skunks
In this information article from the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine, Cathy Johnson-Delaney profiles Virginia opossums and skunks as potential pets, outlining their physical characteristics and personalities, as well as explaining the unique challenges encountered when keeping them as companion animals. Minimal attention is paid to how humans might happen to have acquired such species as companions. The author instead focuses on how to care for opossums and skunks, with the paper geared towards vets who may have to work with these animals. READ MORE

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Americans are Having Dogs Instead of Babies
In this article for Quartz Magazine, Roberto Ferdman draws a link between declining birth rates in the U.S. and the ever-increasing trend of people having small dogs as companion animals. Using statistics from the United States Department of Health, as well as Pets International and research firm Euromonitor, Ferdman finds that the numbers are rising and falling in tandem, and that demographic data suggests that they may be correlated. READ MORE

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Animal-Assisted Interventions: Making Better Use of the Human-Animal Bond
In this article promoting the One Health program, authors Daniel Mills and Sophie Hall offer a fairly comprehensive literature review outlining how companion animals are positive contributors to human health outcomes. One Health is described as "the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines — working locally, nationally, and globally — to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment." The authors chose to focus primarily on how companion animals can help humans, especially in relation to older people and children. They urge the larger medical community to see companion animals and therapy animals as not simply "novel" and "cost-effective" ways of improving human health, but as potentially serving a more serious role as "valuable contributors to human health and wellbeing and, as a result, society and the broader economy." READ MORE

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‘Never an It’: Intersubjectivity and the Creation of Animal Personhood in Animal Shelters
In this paper, Nicola Taylor asks sociologists to open themselves up to the further study of human-animal relationships, and specifically the way that identity and subjecthood is constructed across the human-animal dualism. Using two animal shelters from the U.K. as case studies, Taylor examines the way that animals living at those shelters are treated as persons and accorded personhood through the actions of shelter staff. Taking account of the processes of naming animals, as well as how individuals are placed into homes, Taylor shows that shelter staff take great consideration and labor in making sure that the animals in their care are taken seriously as individuals and persons. READ MORE

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Operation Catnip: Working Together to Reduce Free-Roaming Cat Populations Ethically and Effectively
In this well-researched editorial for The Veterinary Journal, Annette Litster presents a strong case for the support of trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs, which she argues is the best method for both controlling and moderating free-roaming cat populations. Addressing issues such as the effectiveness of lethal animal control methods, human abandonment of cats, and the contention that free-roaming cats are a threat to avian species conservation, Litster discusses each aspect in turn and provides compelling evidence that non-lethal programs are the best possible solution. READ MORE

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Factors Affecting the Human Interpretation of Dog Behavior
This study from Sweden examines the effect of empathy on how humans interpret animal behavior, and specifically how veterinary students interpret the behavior of dogs. Using a combination of written questions and video footage, the researchers sought to determine what factors contribute to the perception of dogs as "aggressive" among vet students. The results of the study suggest that feelings of empathy and interpretations of aggression are (perhaps not surprisingly) negatively correlated, but also that an individual's claims of knowledge about an animal do not necessarily mean that person will correctly interpret that animal's behavior or feel increased empathy towards them. READ MORE

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Surveys Yield Conflicting Trends in U.S. Pet Ownership
A new article from the Veterinary Information Network highlights the importance of understanding research methodologies in evaluating the results of different studies. In this particular case, the authors examine the discrepancy between cat and dog populations in concurrent surveys carried out by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Pet Products Association (APPA). With some of their findings differing by margins as high as 19%, the results show a significant disparity that can end up with a completely different takeaway message. READ MORE

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Canadian Federation of Humane Societies – Animal Shelter Statistics 2013
This annual report from the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies compiles 2013 statistics from Humane Societies and SPCA shelters across Canada. The paper provides numbers going back to 2007 to give a sense of the recent trends, and finds some reason for optimism: the situation for shelter animals seems to be improving gradually. For cats in particular, who make up the majority of shelter animals in Canada, adoption rates are increasing while euthanasia rates are decreasing, and maintaining a gradual decrease year over year. READ MORE

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Analyzing the Safewalk Program with SAS: Saving Shelter Dogs One Walk at a Time
This 2013 study from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) details their recent success with "Safewalk," a program designed to train staff on how to behave around shelter dogs to help the dogs survive shelter life and increase their chances of adoption. The paper explores not only why and how Safewalk was implemented, but how initial data from the program seemed to indicate that it was actually increasing euthanasia rates and length of stay at the shelter, which later turned out to be false. The paper pays special attention to the case study of Chopper, a dog who was surrendered twice to the shelter due to behavioral problems, but was eventually homed successfully after Safewalk was implemented. READ MORE
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