Shelter Medicine Research
Research in the Collaborative for Shelter Dogs
Find out more about research in the Collaborative for Shelter Dogs
Center for Animals and Public Policy
Find out more about research in the Center for Animals and Public Policy
Recent Research in Shelter Medicine
Community Programming for Companion Dog Retention: A Survey of Animal Welfare Organizations
Animal sheltering organizations in the United States offer programs to support dog ownership, yet little is known about what has been implemented across the U.S. In order to systematically examine factors sheltering organizations believe contribute to canine relinquishment and identify what programs they employ to address relinquishment in their communities, we conducted a cross-sectional online […]
Amanda Russo
An unknown juvenile female mixed breed dog was found non-ambulatory on a dead-end street in an urban setting adjacent to a public park. During initial veterinary examination, she was assessed to have untreatable injuries and was humanely euthanized. The forensic veterinarian requested consultation from a forensic anthropologist to assist with documenting antemortem skeletal trauma. Analyses […]
Martha Smith-Blackmore
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 […]
Chelsea L Reinhard
Survey of Massachusetts Animal Shelter Record-Keeping Practices in 2015
The animal sheltering industry lacks standardized methods of data collection and analysis. The resulting lack of available data limits our understanding of the homeless animal population. The objective of this study was to better understand record-keeping practices and attitudes toward shelter statistics among Massachusetts shelter and rescue organizations and to identify barriers to data collection […]
Theresa Vinic
Animal Abuse as a Type of Trauma: Lessons for Human and Animal Service Professionals
Animal abuse frequently occurs at the same time and the same place as other types of violence, particularly family violence. Because of that close association, this article proposes that it is the responsibility of both animal service and human service professionals to be aware of its occurrence, understand its significance, and promote appropriate professional and […]
Mary Lou Randour
Assessment of canine health and preventative care outcomes of a community medicine program
The objective of this study was to assess if use of a community based veterinary medical program (the Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic) was related to indicators of canine health and well-being in a low-income community through the provision of low-cost preventative care. Participants were 177 low-income dog owners; 63 were repeat wellness/preventative care […]
Megan Kiely Mueller
Effect of Visitor Perspective on Adoption Decisions at One Animal Shelter
This study investigated the visitor experience at one urban animal shelter. While several previous studies have examined the reasons particular nonhuman animals are chosen by adopters, few have investigated the possible reasons one would visit a shelter and leave without adopting. Over a two-month period, 158 visitors were surveyed after they were finished touring the […]
Anastacia Southland
A Systematic Review of the Literature Addressing Veterinary Care for Underserved Communities
Currently, there is a care gap in veterinary medicine affecting low-income and underserved communities, resulting in decreased nonhuman-animal health and welfare. The use of low-price and community veterinary clinics in underserved populations is a strategy to improve companion-animal health through preventative care, spay/neuter, and other low-price care programs and services. Little research has documented the […]
Elizabeth LaVallee
Pet owners' knowledge of pet care has been shown to affect the human-animal relationship and the welfare of companion animals. With rabbits being the third most common companion animal in many regions, and evidence of owners' lack of awareness for the standards of care required to care for companion rabbits, it is important to understand […]
Tasha Welch
OBJECTIVE To determine characteristics of cats sterilized through a subsidized, reduced-cost spay-neuter program in Massachusetts and of owners who had their cats sterilized through this program. DESIGN Cross-sectional anonymous survey and telephone interviews. SAMPLE 1,188 (anonymous surveys) and 99 (telephone interviews) cat owners. PROCEDURES Owners who had a cat sterilized at clinics held between January […]
Valerie A Benka