Читать книгу Animal Behavior for Shelter Veterinarians and Staff - Группа авторов - Страница 191

Behavior helplines begin to delve into more individualized behavioral support. Helplines can often be staffed by trained volunteers, with questions escalated to the organization’s behavioral staff if necessary. These services may be provided to adopters, potential surrenderers, or the general public and may overlap in structure and scope with the provision of behavior resources. Helplines can be run on‐site or remotely, either electronically or via telephone, and they include an individualized discussion of the behavioral concerns for the pet. Efficient helplines can handle a high volume of contact. Similar services have longstanding use for human emotional health, and Shore et al. (2008) found a strong willingness to use such programs by pet owners if the services were free of charge.

Because there are limited data available to evaluate the efficacy of these programs, their impact on pet retention in the home is uncertain. However, as with the provision of general information, it is reasonable to assume some degree of benefit to the pet and client through the acquisition of knowledge about treatment strategies for behavior concerns. Similarly, it is likely that behavior helplines are more successful when addressing common concerns with relatively straightforward interventions. The benefit of these helplines is impacted by the quality of the advice and counseling. Therefore, while the resource investment in a helpline program can be modest, its benefit will presumably increase with a significant investment in time by behavior staff to train and provide ongoing support for helpline volunteers and staff.