Читать книгу Animal Behavior for Shelter Veterinarians and Staff - Группа авторов - Страница 14

“Everyone is on the behavior team.” That is the philosophy of the ASPCA’s Behavioral Rehabilitation Center, a purpose‐built facility designed to house, care for, and treat dogs with extreme fear. However, this philosophy is also applicable outside a specialized rehabilitation facility, even when staffing structure, roles, and responsibilities vary. This approach recognizes that all shelter personnel have important insights and impacts on the behavior and welfare of animals. A collaborative approach to sheltering—from intake to outcome and everything in between—representing the perspectives of medical, behavior, and operations team members, can result in enhanced delivery of care and ultimately improve the entirety of the sheltering experience for the animals and humans involved.

The topics, contributors, and scope of content throughout this book have been chosen and designed to highlight the interplay of all animal care team members toward a shared goal of happy, healthy pets enriching the lives of their humans. The reader will find authors with expertise in animal training, applied behavior, operations and programs, veterinary behavior, shelter medicine, and research—and in many cases authors have been intentionally paired to present as broad a perspective as possible on each topic.

Building upon the foundations laid in the first edition, this volume has been divided into five sections intended to present an evidence‐based approach to the current knowledge of animal behavior in animal shelters. Section 1: Foundations in Behavioral Health addresses fundamental concepts important for the application of the principles explored in the subsequent sections and features a new chapter to introduce the reader to learning theory (Chapter 3). Section 2: Pets in the Community describes the implications of community‐wide programs on the behavioral health of shelter animals and features a timely new chapter on safety net programs to prevent pet relinquishment (Chapter 5). Section 3: Dogs in the Shelter and Section 4: Cats in the Shelter have each been expanded to accommodate the ever‐growing knowledge base in topics that were presented together in the first edition. Chapters dedicated solely to advances in animal handling (Chapters 8 and 14), behavior assessment (Chapters 9 and 15), and housing (Chapter 10 and 16) for dogs and cats will focus on practical applications of both old and new concepts. In addition, Section 3 also features an entire chapter on the science and impact of play in dogs along with guidance for the successful, humane operation of playgroups (Chapter 13). Section 5: Special Topics encompasses a variety of timely and important topics with direct implications on animal health and welfare. New chapters feature frameworks for welfare assessment and ethical decision‐making (Chapter 19) and consider programming with particular impact on behavioral health such as animal relocation (Chapter 20) and the behavioral care of animals during disasters, cruelty cases, and long‐term holds (Chapter 21). This section also includes an expanded discussion of behavioral pharmacology in animal shelters (Chapter 22) and introduces concepts in the care of small mammals (Chapter 23) and horses (Chapter 24).

The reader is encouraged to use all of the resources compiled to supplement the material in the text. Chapter appendices offer sample protocols and checklists that will help put new knowledge into practice. An online video library is available to demonstrate many of the conditions, concepts, and techniques presented by the authors. General appendices provide ethograms of common canine and feline behaviors as well as a summary of behavior professional credentialing requirements.

Read from cover to cover, consult a chapter before writing a new protocol, assign a staff member to present a chapter at a staff meeting, or build a volunteer training session using material gleaned from your favorite chapter—choose whichever means of applying this material will most enrich you, the animals, and the people in your circles. After all, there is bound to be something valuable for everyone, because everyone is on the behavior team!