Public perceptions of free-roaming dogs and cats in India and the United States.

In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to describe differences between India and the United States in public perceptions of free-roaming dogs and cats, concerns related to free-roaming animals, and preferred strategies for veterinary medical interventions and population management. Between August 2021 and February 2022, 498 individuals completed an online survey including 210 Indian respondents and 288 American respondents. Free-roaming dogs and cats were largely perceived as community animals among Indian respondents, with significantly more respondents indicating they should be allowed to roam freely compared with American respondents.

A prospective study of mental wellbeing, quality of life, human-animal attachment, and grief among foster caregivers at animal shelters.

Foster care programs at animal shelters have emerged as an important tool for promoting animal welfare and supporting shelter life-saving efforts. Preliminary evidence suggests that foster caregiving may also be health-promoting for humans. The goals of this study were to investigate the experiences of foster caregivers at animal shelters based on measures of positive and negative affect, quality of life, and grief, and to describe human-animal attachment among foster populations.

Understanding the Motivations of Foster Caregivers at Animal Shelters.

Foster care programs in animal shelters have been shown to benefit animals and shelters, but little is known about what motivates foster caregivers to volunteer. This cross-sectional study explored the motivations and expectations of 131 foster caregivers from five shelters within the United States who completed a pre-foster survey between March 2022 and March 2023. The most common motivations were animal- or community-based, such as the desire to provide an animal with love or do something positive for the community.

Shelter Medicine Sustainability from an Academic Perspective: Challenges and Issues.

A meeting of veterinary school faculty and partners, many associated with shelter medicine and/or community medicine programming, was convened at the 2019 Shelter Medicine Veterinary Educators Conference in Pullman, WA, to discuss challenges with shelter medicine program sustainability and defining the future. The discussion was facilitated by an outside consultant and is summarized in this manuscript. The goal of the meeting was to identify challenges and issues concerning the needs and goals for shelter medicine curricula to have long-term success in academic training.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasmosis among Shelter-Housed Felines in a Philadelphia Suburb.

Members of the Felidae family are the definitive host of the ubiquitous zoonotic parasite . Few studies have been conducted to determine the epidemiology of in domestic felines within animal shelter populations. The goal of this study was to assess seroprevalence in a limited-admission shelter in the greater Philadelphia area.

Pet Owners' Perceptions of COVID-19, Zoonotic Disease, and Veterinary Medicine: The Impact of Demographic Characteristics.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of sociodemographic characteristics on pet owners' concern about the transmission of zoonotic disease and SARS-CoV-2, and to describe owners' perceptions of veterinarians and physicians as resources for zoonoses information. Between September and October 2020, 1154 individuals completed an online survey via Qualtrics. Binary logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between owner demographics and perceptions of zoonoses and SARS-CoV-2.

Returning a Shelter Dog: The Role of Owner Expectations and Dog Behavior.

Millions of animals are adopted from animal shelters in the United States each year, although some are returned post-adoption, which can decrease both the animals' chances of future adoptions and the owners' willingness to adopt again. In this study, we investigated the impact of adopter expectations for ownership and animal behavioral problems on post-adoptive dog returns at a large animal shelter in South Carolina. Between June-September 2021, 132 dog adopters completed a survey about their expectations for ownership through Qualtrics.

A Pilot Study Examining the Experience of Veterinary Telehealth in an Underserved Population Through a University Program Integrating Veterinary Students.

Cost and transportation are two commonly cited barriers to accessing health care in both human and veterinary medicine within underserved communities. While human medicine has utilized telehealth as a means of breaking down this barrier, limited research exists to describe its use in veterinary medicine. The Pets for Life (PFL) program has partnered with the Penn Vet Shelter Medicine Program to provide veterinary appointments to clients, at no cost to the client, in underserved zip codes through virtual telehealth visits.

A Qualitative Analysis of Clinical Year Veterinary Student Journal Entries for a Shelter Medicine Rotation.

Veterinary medical schools are tasked with not only providing experiences necessary to graduate veterinarians proficient in the skills and knowledge used most frequently in private practice, but also develop expertise in animal behavior, welfare, ethics, veterinary forensics, and cultural competency. Integrating all these knowledge areas into the curriculum can be challenging. Shelter medicine is increasingly identified by educators as an optimal learning environment to offer exposure to these topics.

One Health clinic promotes veterinarian-client trust among underserved pet owners and provides learning opportunities for veterinary students.

Objective: To determine the impact of a free One Health clinic with human and veterinary services on the veterinary-client relationship for underserved pet owners. A secondary aim was to understand the experience of veterinary students and volunteers who participated in the clinic.

Sample: 78 pet owners, 55 students and 32 volunteers who attended the Delaware Humane Association One Health Clinic between December 2018 and November 2019.

The impact of returning a pet to the shelter on future animal adoptions.

Unsuccessful animal adoptions are stressful for many owners and may reduce their willingness to adopt again. The goal of this study was to determine the proportion of return owners who adopted post-return and investigate return characteristics that affected the likelihood of post-return adoption. We analyzed adoption records from a South Carolina animal shelter between 2015 and 2019 (n = 1999) using a logistic regression model including post-return adoption (binary) and return reason, species, animal sex and age.

A Survey of Veterinary Student and Veterinarian Perceptions of Shelter Medicine Employment.

Shelter medicine appears to be popular among prospective veterinarians, but there is a shortage of veterinarians entering the field to fill available positions. The reasons for this discordance are not well understand. This study describes veterinary students' interest in shelter medicine, their perceptions of common duties, and their perceptions of employment attributes in shelter medicine, compared with those of current veterinarians.

Animal Shelters' Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Survey of 14 Shelters in the Northeastern United States.

Anecdotal reports indicate that many animal shelters experienced increased adoption and foster care rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet peer-reviewed evidence is lacking. In this pilot survey of 14 animal shelters in the Northeastern United States, we aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on animal intakes, foster care and five outcome types and describe operational changes reported by shelters in response to COVID-19. Paired sample -tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare intake, adoption, euthanasia and foster care rates and numbers between March-June 2019 and 2020.

Workplace Relations and Opportunities for Career Development Impact the Retention of Veterinarians in Shelter Medicine.

Shelter medicine has grown considerably over recent years with many shelters hiring veterinarians for the first time or expanding their veterinary teams. As a result, there is a dearth of shelter veterinarians and retention has become a key concern for the field. The goal of this study was to describe veterinarians' perceptions of shelter medicine, and their feelings of job satisfaction, loneliness, and professional fulfillment.

A Retrospective Analysis of Pre-/Post-Test Scores of Students Participating in Online Asynchronous Shelter Surgery Coursework.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine first offered the elective Student Shelter Opportunities I (SSOI) course in 2016 to provide pre-clinical students with an opportunity to engage with shelter medicine and high-quality, high-volume surgery (HQHVS) concepts. The course utilized online asynchronous coursework to deliver content that was completed on a self-guided timeline by students. With most of the veterinary medical curriculum delivered in a traditional classroom format, it is important to assess learning in this unique course format.

Characterizing unsuccessful animal adoptions: age and breed predict the likelihood of return, reasons for return and post-return outcomes.

A considerable number of adopted animals are returned to animal shelters post-adoption which can be stressful for both the animal and the owner. In this retrospective analysis of 23,932 animal records from a US shelter, we identified animal characteristics associated with the likelihood of return, key return reasons, and outcomes post-return for dogs and cats. Binary logistic regression models were used to describe the likelihood of return, return reason and outcome based on intake age, intake type, sex, breed and return frequency.

A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of Famciclovir in Shelter Cats with Naturally Occurring Upper Respiratory Tract Disease.

Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) is a clinically relevant infectious disease in shelter cats, with individual and population-level welfare implications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of famciclovir in reducing clinical signs of URTD in shelter cats during a therapeutic period of up to 21 days. Cats at two Northeastern United States animal shelters with URTD clinical signs were enrolled in a pragmatic, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.