Can just a few hours outside the shelter make a difference for a dog? Data from an ongoing study suggests foster field trips can help improve welfare in dogs, increase adoption chances and create other advantages for the organization caring for the dogs. Here’s the background: About a year ago, Austin Animal Center received a… Learn More
Short of finding a magic wand, there’s really nothing better than foster care programs for boosting lifesaving, cutting costs and improving health in animal shelters. Unconvinced? Check out the results of a study just published in the peer-reviewed journal Animals, “Factors Associated with High Live Release for Dogs at a Large, Open-Admission, Municipal Shelter.” The… Learn More
Do you want to get more senior dogs and cats adopted? A new study reports that, to accomplish that goal, animal shelters and rescue organizations need to provide health care to pets already in the shelter, as well as veterinary support to help keep older pets in the homes they already have — whether it’s permanently,… Learn More
A rapid DNA test lets animal shelters know with certainty that a cat or kitten is negative for ringworm, allowing those kitties to head straight out to the adoption floor or into foster care without concern that they might be contagious. The test considered the “gold standard” for diagnosing ringworm (Microsporum canis dermatophytosis) in cats is… Learn More
Ever wonder why foster caregivers stop fostering? How can your organization increase retention? Maddie’s Fund® set out to answer these questions by sponsoring a recent study at UNC Charlotte on foster care. The results, and what your organization can do about the problem, may surprise you. “The purpose of this study was to better understand… Learn More
Can you imagine how terrifying it must feel for cats who are trapped for sterilization and returned to their outdoor habitat, especially when the cat is not socialized to humans? And you probably don’t need to imagine how much stress pet cats can experience when taken to the veterinarian — if you’ve ever owned a… Learn More
Will we see you at the 2017 Annual Society of Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA) Conference in Miami, FL, this weekend? The conference will run from November 12-15, with a Research Symposium Day on the 15th, sponsored by yours truly. Online registration is still open if you’re thinking about it, and they also accept walk-up registrations once… Learn More
In 2014, the Shelter Pet Project, an Ad Council public service advertising campaign promoting pet adoption and funded by Maddie’s Fund® and the Humane Society of the United States, conducted a research survey of 1,402 people to understand how to increase the number of pets acquired from animal shelters and rescue organizations. What can we… Learn More
Can a dog in your shelter benefit from just one sleepover with a foster? You bet, and we’ve got the research to back it up! A little over a year ago, Maddie’s Fund® gave a grant to Carroll College to answer that very question, funding the first sleepover pilot study at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary… Learn More
When cats stop using their litter box, and they get a clean bill of physical health from their veterinarian, there’s one piece of advice that almost universally comes next: Keep your litter box clean. But what does that mean from the cat’s point of view? The smell of a cat box is probably the main… Learn More