Assessing quality of life is a complex process, even for humans who are able to communicate their level of distress or discomfort. Assessing quality of life for companion animals, especially in a shelter context, is even more complex. This lecture looks at some of the research into human and companion animal quality of life assessment, and explores how as veterinarians we can better understand quality of life concerns for shelter animals in order to inform our daily decision-making. Case examples will be used to illustrate principles.

Presenter: Elizabeth Berliner, DVM

Maximize In-Shelter Welfare, Increase Live Outcomes, Animal & Population Management, quality of life

In this session, we will explore how we can assess canine welfare in the animal shelter and promising measures found across the scientific literature that can help us better understand dogs’ experiences. Also explored are recent studies undertaken by Arizona State University research team that have investigated the effects of certain types of housing and social interaction on the welfare of shelter dogs and how these interventions can be implemented to improve the lives of dogs in your shelter.

Presenter: Lisa Gunter, PhD, CBCC-KA, Arizona State University

This presentation was recorded at the 2022 ASPCA Maddie's Cornell Shelter Medicine Conference.

This lecture has been approved for 1 hour of continuing education credit in jurisdictions that recognize RACE approval.

This lecture has also been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association.

keywords: canine welfare, animal sheltering, canine behavior assessment in animal shelters, canine housing, effect of social interaction on shelter dogs, 2022 ASPCA Maddie's Cornell Shelter Medicine Conference

The experience of unpleasant emotions is often referred to as “emotional pain”, such as when someone loses a loved one. The emotions that arise when one’s social bonds with another are impaired or lost – such as feelings of isolation, loneliness, and rejection – comprise one type of emotional pain, called “social pain”. Recent research has found that the term “pain” is not just a metaphor but is based on the finding that social pain is processed in the same brain regions where physical pain is processed. In addition, similar drugs can alleviate both physical and social pain. For social species, like elephants, horses, sheep, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and humans, social pain plays a powerful role in one’s well-being and quality of life. For today’s domestic dog, the issue may be of greater importance than for any other species on Earth. Evidence indicates that through domestication the emotional bonding propensity of dogs toward humans has been greatly amplified, which appears to have resulted in both greater joy for dogs when in the company of humans, but also greater suffering when denied human companionship. Only by educating all those who care for dogs will “man’s best friend” receive the care they so strongly deserve.

Presenter: Franklin D. McMillan, DVM

Visit Maddie's Pet Forum to comment, follow a discussion or ask questions: https://maddies.fund/MIwebcast...

This webinar has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association.

keywords shelter dogs, canine behavior, stress in dogs, social pain in dogs, emotional pain in dogs, emotional bonding with animals, human animal bond, Franklin D. McMillan, Dr. Frank McMillan

Maddie's Insights are monthly webcasts with practical tips based on current research to help pets and people.

In this program, Dr. Michael Hennessy, Professor in the Department of Psychology, Wright State University, is joined by Regina Willen, Founder and Director at HALO K9 Behavior. They discuss how basic scientific research informs our understanding of the stress dogs undergo in a shelter environment. They also examine immediate effects of entry to a shelter as well as potential long-term consequences. How basic research findings suggest practicable means for reducing or preventing these outcomes was also considered.

The information contained in webinars and related materials has been prepared, compiled, or provided by Maddie’s Fund as a service to webinar participants and is not intended to constitute the rendering of legal, consulting, or other professional services of any kind. The opinions expressed by webinar presenters are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Maddie’s Fund.

This webinar has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association.

Visit Maddie's Pet Forum to comment, follow a discussion or ask questions: https://maddies.fund/MIwebcast...

keywords canine stress in dog shelters, canine behavior, shelter dogs, foster care for shelter dogs, animal sheltering, foster care, canine training, dog behavior, cortisol in dogs, managing stress in shelter dogs, reducing stress in shelter dogs

Animal welfare represents how an animal experiences their life. It characterizes the overall mental experiences of an animal and is a subjective concept that cannot be directly measured. Instead, welfare indicators are used to cautiously infer mental experiences from resource provisions, management factors and a range of animal-based measures. The Five Domains Model is a holistic and structured framework for gathering together these indicators and assessing animal welfare. It is used to systematically assess the welfare of animals in a range of contexts and explicitly focuses on an animal's mental experiences. 

The Five Domains Model is used internationally to assess animal welfare in a range of contexts. The Model also represents a framework that could be used to advance animal care – by drawing attention to a wide range of areas where we can make improvements. While animal welfare is an animal-centered concept (i.e., the focus is on assessing an animal's mental experiences), animal care is human-centered (i.e., the focus is on what we can provide for animals). Animal care encourages those responsible for animals to consider providing them with a range of opportunities so that they can have a good life. The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate how the Five Domains can be used to scientifically assess animal welfare and how they also provide a means of considering how best to care for animals.

Presenter: Kat Littlewood, BVSc (Dist), PGDipVCS (Dist), PhD, AFHEA, FANZCVS (AWSEL)

This webinar has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association. Approval for 1 hour of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize RACE approval has been submitted.

Visit Maddie's Pet Forum to comment, follow a discussion or ask questions: https://maddies.fund/MIwebcast5Domains

keywords  Maddie's Insights, Kat Littlewood, five domains of animal care, animal welfare, scientific assessment of animal welfare, care for shelter animals, mental experiences of animals, animal behavior, Tāwharau Ora, Massey University, New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, & Law, animal research

Maddie's® Insights is our ongoing webcast series with practical tips based on current research to help pets and people. 

Presenter: Erica Feuerbacher, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech and Director, Applied Behavior & Welfare Lab

Program Description:
Dogs are often housed alone in shelter settings to reduce injury and disease spread. However, social isolation can be a stressor for dogs. Most prior studies have focused on laboratory dogs or shelter dogs that have been kenneled for several months. Thus, those results might not necessarily generalize to shelter dogs, many of which have shorter lengths of stay than those dogs studied to date and might be cohoused soon after intake.

The presenter and her team investigated the behavioral and physiological effects of single- or pair-housing shelter dogs, most of which had recently entered the shelter, as well as the impact of pair-housing on length of stay. In this talk, Dr. Feuerbacher will review the literature on co-housing dogs, go into detail on her study methods and results, and discuss the benefits and practical considerations of pair-housing dogs.

Attendees will learn to:
1.     Identify behavioral and physiological benefits of pair housing
2.     Identify adoption benefits of pair housing
3.     Understand the requirements to consider using pair housing safely

Earn continuing education credit from The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement towards 1.0 CAWA CEs. This webinar has also been pre-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits by the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA). It has also been approved for 1 hour of continuing education credit between 12/6/24 - 12/6/26 in jurisdictions which recognize RACE approval. Complete the quiz to earn continuing education credit.

Visit Maddie's Pet Forum to comment, follow a discussion or ask questions: https://maddies.fund/MIwebcast...

keywords  Maddie's Insights, Erica N. Feuerbacher, pair-housing shelter dogs, co-housing shelter dogs, adoption benefits of pair housing