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Effects of exercise and human contact on animal welfare in a dog shelter
Author(s) -
MenorCampos D. J.,
MolledaCarbonell J. M.,
LópezRodríguez R.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.d4757
Subject(s) - animal welfare , welfare , animal assisted therapy , investment (military) , medicine , hubzero , physiological stress , veterinary medicine , physical therapy , psychology , zoology , pet therapy , physiology , biology , political science , ecology , politics , law
The aim of the study is to investigate the reduction of stress in dogs in municipal shelters through easy‐to‐implement activities, ie, 25‐minute sessions of exercise and human contact, that do not require a significant investment in terms of funding, staff or time. The results demonstrate that the dogs taking part in these sessions have lower salivary cortisol levels (F=121.42; P<0.05) and achieve better scores on a behaviour test (t 17 =4.27; P=0.001). It can therefore be affirmed that the exercise and human contact protocol proposed in the present study diminishes stress and improves the welfare of dogs housed in shelters.