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Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters

SIMPLE SUMMARY: An up-to-date and comprehensive understanding of the characteristics and outcomes of dogs entering shelters is required for implementing targeted strategies to reduce euthanasia of healthy and treatable dogs in Australia. Currently, there are few up-to-date Australian data published...

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Autores principales: Hemy, Megan, Rand, Jacquie, Morton, John, Paterson, Mandy
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5615298/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28862692
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani7090067
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author Hemy, Megan
Rand, Jacquie
Morton, John
Paterson, Mandy
author_facet Hemy, Megan
Rand, Jacquie
Morton, John
Paterson, Mandy
author_sort Hemy, Megan
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: An up-to-date and comprehensive understanding of the characteristics and outcomes of dogs entering shelters is required for implementing targeted strategies to reduce euthanasia of healthy and treatable dogs in Australia. Currently, there are few up-to-date Australian data published on dogs entering shelters, and their outcomes. Of dogs entering the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Queensland shelters in 2014, the majority (58%) were strays and 26% were puppies. Only 18% of dogs >6 months were desexed. Most dogs were reclaimed (32%) or adopted (43%). Strategies targeted to locations and breeds overrepresented by admissions are required to reduce shelter admissions, particularly of strays and unwanted litters. ABSTRACT: Over 200,000 stray and surrendered dogs are admitted to shelters and municipal facilities in Australia each year, and approximately 20% are euthanized. Contemporary, comprehensive data on the characteristics and outcomes of dogs entering shelters are required to reduce shelter admissions and euthanasia. However, there are currently limited up-to-date data published on dog admission into shelters. A retrospective single cohort study was conducted to describe the characteristics and outcomes of the dog population entering Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Queensland (RSPCA-QLD) shelters in 2014 (n = 11,967). The majority of dog admissions were strays from the public (24%) or from municipal councils (34%). Just over a quarter of admissions were puppies, 18% of adults (>6 months) were desexed, and the majority of admissions were crossbred dogs (92%). The majority of owner surrenders (86%) were due to human-related reasons. Most dogs were reclaimed (32%) or adopted (43%) and aggression was the most common reason for euthanasia of adult dogs (45%). Low-cost or free desexing and identification programs targeted to areas and breeds contributing to high intake, and increased support services for owners at risk of surrendering their dog, should be trialed to determine their cost effectiveness in reducing shelter admissions and euthanasia.
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spelling pubmed-56152982017-09-28 Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters Hemy, Megan Rand, Jacquie Morton, John Paterson, Mandy Animals (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: An up-to-date and comprehensive understanding of the characteristics and outcomes of dogs entering shelters is required for implementing targeted strategies to reduce euthanasia of healthy and treatable dogs in Australia. Currently, there are few up-to-date Australian data published on dogs entering shelters, and their outcomes. Of dogs entering the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Queensland shelters in 2014, the majority (58%) were strays and 26% were puppies. Only 18% of dogs >6 months were desexed. Most dogs were reclaimed (32%) or adopted (43%). Strategies targeted to locations and breeds overrepresented by admissions are required to reduce shelter admissions, particularly of strays and unwanted litters. ABSTRACT: Over 200,000 stray and surrendered dogs are admitted to shelters and municipal facilities in Australia each year, and approximately 20% are euthanized. Contemporary, comprehensive data on the characteristics and outcomes of dogs entering shelters are required to reduce shelter admissions and euthanasia. However, there are currently limited up-to-date data published on dog admission into shelters. A retrospective single cohort study was conducted to describe the characteristics and outcomes of the dog population entering Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Queensland (RSPCA-QLD) shelters in 2014 (n = 11,967). The majority of dog admissions were strays from the public (24%) or from municipal councils (34%). Just over a quarter of admissions were puppies, 18% of adults (>6 months) were desexed, and the majority of admissions were crossbred dogs (92%). The majority of owner surrenders (86%) were due to human-related reasons. Most dogs were reclaimed (32%) or adopted (43%) and aggression was the most common reason for euthanasia of adult dogs (45%). Low-cost or free desexing and identification programs targeted to areas and breeds contributing to high intake, and increased support services for owners at risk of surrendering their dog, should be trialed to determine their cost effectiveness in reducing shelter admissions and euthanasia. MDPI 2017-09-01 /pmc/articles/PMC5615298/ /pubmed/28862692 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani7090067 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Hemy, Megan
Rand, Jacquie
Morton, John
Paterson, Mandy
Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters
title Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters
title_full Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters
title_fullStr Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters
title_full_unstemmed Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters
title_short Characteristics and Outcomes of Dogs Admitted into Queensland RSPCA Shelters
title_sort characteristics and outcomes of dogs admitted into queensland rspca shelters
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5615298/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28862692
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani7090067
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