Behavioral and psychological characteristics of canine victims of abuse.

Abuse is an intentional act that causes harm to an individual. Dogs (Canis familiaris) with a known or suspected history of abuse were solicited for the study. A panel of 5 experts in canine behavior and abuse selected the dogs judged as having a certain or near certain history of being abused for inclusion in the study. Behavioral evaluations of the dogs were obtained using the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire, which utilizes ordinal scales to rate either the intensity or frequency of the dog's behaviors. Sixty-nine dogs ultimately met the criteria for inclusion in the study. When compared with a convenience sample of 5,239 companion dogs, abused dogs were reported as displaying significantly higher rates of aggression and fear directed toward unfamiliar humans and dogs, excitability, hyperactivity, attachment and attention-seeking behaviors, persistent barking, and miscellaneous strange or repetitive behaviors. Delineating the behavioral and psychological characteristics of abused dogs provides the first step in identifying and distinguishing the risk factors and sequelae associated with abuse, which may inform the development of preventive and therapeutic programs for nonhuman animal abuse.

Large Dog Relinquishment to Two Municipal Facilities in New York City and Washington, D.C.: Identifying Targets for Intervention.

While the overall trend in euthanasia has been decreasing nationally, large dogs are at a higher risk of euthanasia than other sized dogs in most animal shelters in the United States. We hypothesized one way to increase the lives saved with respect to these large dogs is to keep them home when possible. In order to develop solutions to decrease relinquishment, a survey was developed to learn more about the reasons owners relinquish large dogs. The survey was administered to owners relinquishing their dogs at two large municipal facilities, one in New York City and one in Washington, D.C. There were 157 responses between the two facilities. We found both significant similarities and differences between respondents and their dogs from the two cities. We identified opportunities to potentially support future relinquishers and found that targets for interventions are likely different in each community.