Factors that Influence Intake to One Municipal Animal Control Facility in Florida: A Qualitative Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Animal shelters try to save homeless dogs and cats by returning lost pets to missing owners, adopting animals to new homes, and by reducing intake. We mapped the annual intake of one county animal shelter to discover where the homeless animals came from and selected one area of high-intake for stray adult dogs to study. We performed field interviews and reviewed available census and child-maltreatment data to create a theory about why so many stray dogs came from this study area. The study-area residents experience multiple socioeconomic challenges secondary to poverty including: interpersonal violence; housing instability; and lack of access to reliable transportation and communication services. Such factors lead residents to view domestic dogs not only as pets, but also as commodities that can add income to households, and often as burdens that results in pet abandonment. The community-specific data collected in this study can drive creation of strategic solutions for preventing pet abandonment and serve to reduce intake of stray dogs to the local animal shelter. ABSTRACT: This qualitative study identified a study area by visualizing one year of animal intake from a municipal animal shelter on geographic information systems (GIS) maps to select an area of high stray-dog intake to investigate. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with residents of the selected study area to elucidate why there were high numbers of stray dogs coming from this location. Using grounded theory, three themes emerged from the interviews: concerns, attitudes, and disparities. The residents expressed concerns about animal welfare, personal safety, money, and health. They held various attitudes toward domestic animals in the community, including viewing them as pets, pests, or useful commodities (products). Residents expressed acceptance as well as some anger and fear about the situation in their community. Interviewees revealed they faced multiple socioeconomic disparities related to poverty. Pet abandonment can result when pet owners must prioritize human needs over animal needs, leading to increased shelter intake of stray dogs. Community-specific strategies for reducing local animal shelter intake should address the issue of pet abandonment by simultaneously targeting veterinary needs of animals, socioeconomic needs of residents, and respecting attitude differences between residents and shelter professionals.