Behavioural and physiological indicators of shelter dogs' welfare: reflections on the no-kill policy on free-ranging dogs in Italy revisited on the basis of 15 years of implementation.

The Italian National Law 281 of 1991 forbids the euthanatization of free-ranging dogs, unless they have an incurable illness or are proved to be dangerous. Without neglecting the undeniable benefits of the "no-kill" policy, nevertheless it has brought about a chronic overpopulation in shelters and, as a result, higher costs of management and welfare problems since some dogs remain in the shelter for life. In 2004-2008, the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of the Lazio and Tuscany regions carried out a survey in the Lazio Region to verify the effects of the Italian National Law 281/91 on free-ranging dog management following 15 years from its implementation. One of the aims of the study was an assessment of the welfare of dogs in a shelter sample (8 shelters out of 47 censused in the Lazio Region). 97 mixed-breed dogs were selected, their behaviour was studied and a blood sample was taken for each dog in order to determine the individual blood concentration of cortisol and the amount of oxidative damage (level of dRoms), as well as the amount of antioxidants to cope with it. Moreover, the total leukocyte count (leukogram) was accomplished. We ran general backward stepwise regression models using "level of antioxidant", "level of dRoms" and "level of serum cortisol" as dependent variables respectively. The results showed that the most important variable that improved the level of welfare of dogs consisted in having the opportunity to regularly go out of the cage for a walk, whereas other variables like gender, size of the cage (small, medium, large), being alone in the cage, and being neutered/entire, had no significant effect on the physiological indicators of welfare. Dogs that enjoyed the regular walk had a higher total antioxidant capacity, and performed a lower frequency of displacing activities and stereotyped behaviour. Moreover, oxidative stress parameters seem to be indicators well matched with behavioural indicators of stress. Thus, for the first time, markers of oxidative status are utilised for the welfare evaluation in the domestic dog. Furthermore, the results of this paper give some suggestion about how small steps can help to improve shelters and, furthermore, this paper intends to solicit the debate on the no-kill policy.

Ionic strength dependence of formation constants-X: proton activity coefficients at various temperatures and ionic strengths and their use in the study of complex equilibria.

The activity coefficients of the proton were determined in aqueous solution in the presence of several background electrolytes at 10, 25, 37 and 45 degrees and 0.01 < or = I < or = 1M. The results indicate that the proton activity coefficients are fairly independent of the different salts used as background, in particular when ion-pair formation between cations and anions of the medium is taken into account. This result is in agreement with the findings of previous works in this series. Some previously published data were reanalysed for comparison, and showed excellent accordance with the present results. A general equation for calculating proton activity coefficients is reported.

Thermodynamics of formation of magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium complexes with 2,2'-bipyridyl and 1,10-phenanthroline, at different ionic strengths in aqueous solution.

The formation constants for the complexes of Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Sr(2+) and Ba(2+) with 2,2'-bipyridyl and 1,10-phenanthroline have been determined from pH measurements in aqueous solution, at 10, 25 and 40 degrees and various ionic strengths in the range 0.05-0.95M. The species [MtL)](2+) was found in all systems. The dependence on ionic strength was calculated for all the stability constants, and DeltaH degrees values have been calculated from the temperature dependence of the stability constants. The formation constants are in the order MgL(2+) > CaL(2+) > SrL(2+) > BaL(2+) and M-10, 10-phenanthroline > M-2,2'-bipyridyl.