Capacity for care in an animal shelter in Paraná

Abstract

High population density, inadequate physical structure, and a lack of human and material resources are the main problems faced by most dog and cat shelters in Brazil. Shelter Medicine is an area of Collective Veterinary Medicine that seeks to promote good levels of well-being for the animals, preventing stress and disease, reducing shelter time, and increasing the adoption rate. The situational diagnosis of the shelter should determine its Capacity to Provide Care (CPC), a management model that aims to meet the basic needs of the animals housed. The purpose of the study was to assess the CPC of an animal shelter in the state of Paraná in terms of the capacity of its physical structure and the staff’s capacity to provide basic daily care (feeding, cleaning, and sanitizing) and human-animal interactions. The evaluation occurred at the “DNA Animal” shelter in Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná, which houses 160 dogs. The following tools were used for data collection: a situational diagnosis form containing information about the physical structure of the institution, a sketch of the shelter, a monthly control sheet for the entry and exit of dogs, and an interactional ethogram. During five days at the shelter, human-animal interaction was assessed, and the basic care activities were timed to calculate the CPC metrics: Actual Physical Holding Capacity (AC), Required Physical Holding Capacity (RHC), and Staff Capacity for Daily Care (SCDC). The average time spent on daily care per animal sheltered was 5.37 min, below the internationally recommended 15 min/animal, due to the low number of staff at the institution. To assess the effectiveness of daily care, we evaluated whether all the animals were fed twice a day and whether the recommended cleaning and sanitizing protocol (CSP) was followed; 100% of the animals were fed twice a day, and the CSP was not applied correctly, since detergent and disinfectant were mixed to speed up cleaning, a practice that inhibits the action of the disinfectant. The calculated SCDC was 74.5%, 100% for the feeding protocol, and 57.5% for the CSP. As for the AC and RHC, depending on the recommendations used, the institution does not meet the structural requirements of the enclosures. The shelter needs to increase staff and include human-animal interaction activities as a routine practice. There is also a flaw in the shelter’s management about relocating the animals to reduce the number of dogs in overcrowded areas. The metrics used in the study proved sufficient to contribute to future adjustments and improvements in the management of Brazilian dog and cat shelters and the well-being of animals and staff.