Noise in the animal shelter environment: building design and the effects of daily noise exposure.

Sound levels in animal shelters regularly exceed 100 dB. Noise is a physical stressor on animals that can lead to behavioral, physiological, and anatomical responses. There are currently no policies regulating noise levels in dog kennels.

Human interaction and cortisol: can human contact reduce stress for shelter dogs?

Animal shelters are an extremely stressful environment for a dog, most specifically due to social isolation and novel surroundings. The stress response of dogs housed in this environment may be alleviated through human interaction shortly after arrival. During their second day in a public animal shelter, adult stray dogs were either engaged in a human contact session or not.