What does “quality of life” really mean? Far from being an afterthought or even a luxury, the quality of life for shelter pets is directly related to disease outbreaks, development of behavior problems, the chances a pet will be adopted, and whether that adoption will be successful or if the pet will end up back at the shelter.
What does “quality of life” really mean? Far from being an afterthought or even a luxury, the quality of life for shelter pets is directly related to disease outbreaks, development of behavior problems, the chances a pet will be adopted, and whether that adoption will be successful or if the pet will end up back at the shelter.

On Sunday, July 14, at the 2013 ASPCA/Cornell/Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Conference in Ithaca, NY, Frank McMillan, DVM, Director of Well-being Studies at Best Friends Animal Society, will give two presentations on the critical issue of quality of life in animal shelters. From the schedule:

Quality of life in the animal shelter: What we know and don’t know
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Quality of life for animals in the shelter has a far greater impact than simply making the animals’ life more enjoyable during the stay in the shelter – it can have an impact on the animals’ happiness well after he or she has left the shelter. It can affect the animal’s ability to make successful adjustments to the human home environment, the chances of the animal being returned to the shelter or drifting from foster home to foster home, and of being adopted at all. On top of this, the strong intuitive sense that quality of life is straightforward and “everyone knows what it means” is an illusion. This presentation will point out what we know and don’t know about animal quality of life in the shelter environment.

Assessing quality of life in the animal shelter
2:05pm – 3:05pm

Quality of life assessment is the paramount method for recognizing deficiencies in the animal’s care as desired by that animal. It permits the determination of enhancements and deteriorations in the pleasantness of the animal’s life experience, so that intervention can be instituted and its effectiveness measured. This talk will present the latest knowledge in how we can best assess quality of life in animals residing in the animal shelter environment.

The conference will be held July 13-14, 2013, at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. The complete schedule is available here (PDF).

Fees to attend are $75 for veterinarians, $25 for veterinary technicians, $10 for individuals and free for students. You can register and see continuing education credit information here.