Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals

There is increasing awareness among animal shelter professionals regarding the role of shelters in perpetuating inequities in pet ownership, although the relationship between owner vulnerabilities and animal shelter services is largely understudied. Currently, there is no literature comparing the so...

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Autores principales:	Lexis H. Ly, Emilia Gordon, Alexandra Protopopova
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	adoption barriers animal sheltering One Welfare social determinants social justice Veterinary medicine SF600-1100
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/39aaa722e83b46e88d5dc47015137c9c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:39aaa722e83b46e88d5dc47015137c9c2021-11-11T08:04:56ZInequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals2297-176910.3389/fvets.2021.784389https://doaj.org/article/39aaa722e83b46e88d5dc47015137c9c2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.784389/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2297-1769There is increasing awareness among animal shelter professionals regarding the role of shelters in perpetuating inequities in pet ownership, although the relationship between owner vulnerabilities and animal shelter services is largely understudied. Currently, there is no literature comparing the sociodemographic conditions of communities where surrendered animals originate and communities where they are adopted. The present study compared the “flow” of surrendered animals between originating communities (incoming) and communities where they were adopted (outgoing; n = 21,270). To analyze community-level vulnerability, we used the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD), which has four dimensions of social vulnerability. We found that three of the four CIMD dimensions were significantly different between surrendering and adopting communities (Ethnocultural Composition, Situational Vulnerability (SV), Economic Dependency, but not Residential Instability). For further investigation, we also grouped our analysis by intake groups (small animal n = 2,682; puppy n = 973; dog n = 3,446; kitten n = 6,436; cat n= 7,733) and found multiple relationships for which the incoming and outgoing CIMD quintiles were different. For example, for both puppies and kittens, the median outgoing SV quintile ranks were statistically significantly lower (less vulnerable) than incoming quintile ranks, with the effect size being moderate (puppy r = 0.31, kitten r = 0.30; p ≤ 0.0025), supporting the concern of the flow of certain animals from more vulnerable to less vulnerable communities. The results of this research provide a basis for understanding potential inequities in the use of shelter services to surrender or adopt an animal. Furthermore, these methods allow animal shelters to assess community needs and create interventions to reduce intake and increase adoption of animals. Finally, these data provide further support that animal sheltering is best considered from a One Welfare perspective.Lexis H. LyEmilia GordonAlexandra ProtopopovaFrontiers Media S.A.articleadoption barriersanimal shelteringOne Welfaresocial determinantssocial justiceVeterinary medicineSF600-1100ENFrontiers in Veterinary Science, Vol 8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	adoption barriers animal sheltering One Welfare social determinants social justice Veterinary medicine SF600-1100
spellingShingle	adoption barriers animal sheltering One Welfare social determinants social justice Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Lexis H. Ly Emilia Gordon Alexandra Protopopova Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals
description	There is increasing awareness among animal shelter professionals regarding the role of shelters in perpetuating inequities in pet ownership, although the relationship between owner vulnerabilities and animal shelter services is largely understudied. Currently, there is no literature comparing the sociodemographic conditions of communities where surrendered animals originate and communities where they are adopted. The present study compared the “flow” of surrendered animals between originating communities (incoming) and communities where they were adopted (outgoing; n = 21,270). To analyze community-level vulnerability, we used the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD), which has four dimensions of social vulnerability. We found that three of the four CIMD dimensions were significantly different between surrendering and adopting communities (Ethnocultural Composition, Situational Vulnerability (SV), Economic Dependency, but not Residential Instability). For further investigation, we also grouped our analysis by intake groups (small animal n = 2,682; puppy n = 973; dog n = 3,446; kitten n = 6,436; cat n= 7,733) and found multiple relationships for which the incoming and outgoing CIMD quintiles were different. For example, for both puppies and kittens, the median outgoing SV quintile ranks were statistically significantly lower (less vulnerable) than incoming quintile ranks, with the effect size being moderate (puppy r = 0.31, kitten r = 0.30; p ≤ 0.0025), supporting the concern of the flow of certain animals from more vulnerable to less vulnerable communities. The results of this research provide a basis for understanding potential inequities in the use of shelter services to surrender or adopt an animal. Furthermore, these methods allow animal shelters to assess community needs and create interventions to reduce intake and increase adoption of animals. Finally, these data provide further support that animal sheltering is best considered from a One Welfare perspective.
format	article
author	Lexis H. Ly Emilia Gordon Alexandra Protopopova
author_facet	Lexis H. Ly Emilia Gordon Alexandra Protopopova
author_sort	Lexis H. Ly
title	Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals
title_short	Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals
title_full	Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals
title_fullStr	Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals
title_full_unstemmed	Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals
title_sort	inequitable flow of animals in and out of shelters: comparison of community-level vulnerability for owner-surrendered and subsequently adopted animals
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/39aaa722e83b46e88d5dc47015137c9c
work_keys_str_mv	AT lexishly inequitableflowofanimalsinandoutofshelterscomparisonofcommunitylevelvulnerabilityforownersurrenderedandsubsequentlyadoptedanimals AT emiliagordon inequitableflowofanimalsinandoutofshelterscomparisonofcommunitylevelvulnerabilityforownersurrenderedandsubsequentlyadoptedanimals AT alexandraprotopopova inequitableflowofanimalsinandoutofshelterscomparisonofcommunitylevelvulnerabilityforownersurrenderedandsubsequentlyadoptedanimals
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Inequitable Flow of Animals in and Out of Shelters: Comparison of Community-Level Vulnerability for Owner-Surrendered and Subsequently Adopted Animals

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