The Influence of Brief Outing and Temporary Fostering Programs on Shelter Dog Welfare.

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 for a night or more in a foster home. In this study, we assessed the effects of brief outings and temporary fostering stays on dogs' length of stay and outcomes. In total, we analyzed data of 1955 dogs from 51 animal shelters that received these interventions as well as 25,946 dogs residing at these shelters that served as our controls. We found that brief outings and temporary fostering stays increased dogs' likelihood of adoption by 5.0 and 14.3 times, respectively. While their lengths of stay were longer in comparison to control dogs, this difference was present prior to the intervention. Additionally, we found that these programs were more successful when greater percentages of community members (as compared to volunteers and staff) were involved in caregiving as well as when programs were implemented by better-resourced shelters. As such, animal welfare organizations should consider implementing these fostering programs as evidence-based best practices that can positively impact the outcomes of shelter dogs.

Emergency Fostering of Dogs From Animal Shelters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shelter Practices, Foster Caregiver Engagement, and Dog Outcomes.

Each year, millions of dogs enter thousands of animal shelters across the United States. Life in the shelter can be stressful, and one type of intervention that improves dogs' experience is human interaction, particularly stays in foster homes. Prior research has demonstrated that fostering can reduce dogs' cortisol and increase their resting activity. Despite these benefits, little is understood about the utilization of foster caregiving in animal shelters, and even less so during a crisis. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization deemed the coronavirus outbreak a worldwide pandemic, and subsequently a nationwide emergency was declared in the United States. Nearly all states issued stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of the virus. During this time, media outlets reported increased interest in the adoption and fostering of shelter pets. This study explores canine foster caregiving at 19 US animal shelters during the first 4 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In our investigation, we found that shelters' utilization of foster caregiving increased from March to April 2020 but returned to initial pandemic levels by June 2020. Slightly less than two-fifths of foster caregivers were community members with no prior relationship with the shelter, and these caregivers were over four times more likely to adopt their fostered dogs than those with a pre-existing relationship to the shelter. Individuals fostering with the intention to adopt, in fact, adopted their dogs in nearly three-quarters of those instances. With regards to shelters' available resources, we found that very low-resource shelters relied more heavily on individuals with prior relationships to provide foster caregiving while very high-resource shelters more often recruited new community members. We also found that our lowest resourced shelters transferred more dogs out of their facilities while more resourced shelters rehomed dogs directly to adopters. To our knowledge, these findings represent the first in-depth reporting about dog fostering in US animal shelters and, more specifically, foster caregiving during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, they provide greater understanding of how monetary and human resources were utilized to affect the care and ultimately, the outcomes of shelter dogs during this time.

Investigating the Impact of Brief Outings on the Welfare of Dogs Living in US Shelters.

Social isolation likely contributes to reduced welfare for shelter-living dogs. Several studies have established that time out of the kennel with a person can improve dogs' behavior and reduce physiological measures of stress. This study assessed the effects of two-and-a-half-hour outings on the urinary cortisol levels and activity of dogs as they awaited adoption at four animal shelters. Dogs' urine was collected before and after outings for cortisol:creatinine analysis, and accelerometer devices were used to measure dogs' physical activity. In total, 164 dogs participated in this study, with 793 cortisol values and 3750 activity measures used in the statistical analyses. We found that dogs' cortisol:creatinine ratios were significantly higher during the afternoon of the intervention but returned to pre-field trip levels the following day. Dogs' minutes of low activity were significantly reduced, and high activity significantly increased during the outing. Although dogs' cortisol and activity returned to baseline after the intervention, our findings suggest that short-term outings do not confer the same stress reduction benefits as previously shown with temporary fostering. Nevertheless, it is possible that these types of outing programs are beneficial to adoptions by increasing the visibility of dogs and should be further investigated to elucidate these effects.