Quality Of Life In The Kennel: Environment and Management
Ensuring the welfare of resident animals is a major priority for most animal shelters. However, the social and environmental enrichment that shelters are able to provide is often limited by financial and other practical constraints. This article, published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, uses a newly developed assessment tool to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of shelter dogs and provide some guidelines for shelter managers.
The study involved 202 dogs in 13 rehoming centers (i.e., animal shelters) run by the United Kingdom-based charity, Dogs Trust. In addition to conducting the assessment, center managers filled out questionnaires on shelter practices and the authors measured sound levels within each kennel. The QoL scores were based on the proportion of positive indicators present relative to negative indicators, obtaining values between +1.0 and -1.0. Overall, the majority of dogs were found to have positive QoL scores; only four dogs scored below zero.
Additionally, dogs who had been at the kennel longer than 30 days and received special enrichment had the highest mean score (.477). These were followed by dogs who had been at the kennel longer than 30 days who received standard treatment (.453), newly admitted dogs who received enrichment (.399), and newly admitted dogs who received standard treatment (.362). The results suggest both that dogs adapt to kennel environments over time and that enrichment increases the dogs’ quality of life.
Statistical analysis showed that only 29% of the variation in QoL scores could be attributed to differences in individual shelters. Factors predicted to improve QoL included increased training duration and frequency, providing dog beds, a quiet environment, increased interactions with kennel staff and volunteers, exercise for 30 minutes or more, and providing less common types of exercise such as swimming. Factors predicting lower QoL included grooming, exercising more than once a day, and providing wet food in addition to dry food. To explain these factors, the authors hypothesize that dogs are disturbed by being taken in and out of kennels multiple times per day. They also suggest that dogs do not like being groomed by unfamiliar people and that wet food leads to weight gain and dental problems.
Recommendations for animal shelter (and kennel) managers are relatively straightforward. The authors advise that “staff should consider exercising and training their dogs for at least 30 minutes per day and offer a range of exercise opportunities.” Additionally, “kennels should be designed so as to minimize external noise and internal noise,” beds should be provided to all dogs, the dietary focus should be on dry food, and grooming experiences should be more carefully considered.