From Shelter to Home: Companion Animal Welfare, Behaviour, and the Development of Human-Animal Bonds

Many companion animals around the world end up in shelters. They are picked up as strays by animal control officers, they are relinquished by owners who no longer want the animal or do not have the ability or resources to provide the necessary care for the animal, or they are rescued from situations of neglect or cruelty. Shelters are meant to be safe places where animals can heal, be cared for and find new homes. These are the aims of all shelter workers and volunteers. Unfortunately, not all shelters meet these aims for all animals. Some animals enter a shelter with health and/or behaviour problems that may deteriorate within the shelter despite everyone’s best efforts. Also, adoptions are not always successful.We are hoping we can bring together a number of papers that look at these issues from various perspectives. For example, how can shelters shield animals from deterioration within the shelter and instead encourage behaviour that not only represents positive welfare for the animal, but also makes them much more attractive for adoption? Fostering seems to offer many welfare benefits to animals both in terms of health and behaviour. However, many shelters find it difficult to attract foster carers and to keep them for a reasonable time. What programs have been trialled to attract foster carers and to support them to continue doing this important job? How can realistic expectations about the challenges of adopting an animal from a shelter be?We invite researchers working in the field of companion animal sheltering to contribute to this special edition. We would like to include original and review articles, and opinion pieces built on experience. Interesting case studies would also be considered. A wide range of themes could be included as long as the paper aims to improve some aspect of companion animal sheltering, including successful adoption. Topic editors: Mandy Bryce Allan Paterson, Hao-Yu Shih Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83175/from-shelter-to-home-companion-animal-welfare-behaviour-and-the-development-of-human-animal-bonds