1Western Suburbs Veterinary Clinic
Thuringowa Drive,
Kirwan Townsville Qld 4817
2Department of Public Health and Tropical
Medicine
James Cook University
Townsville Qld 4811
Extract from Australian Veterinary Practitioner, 1995; 25:
68-72.
During August, 1991, 328 pets (206 dogs, 116 cats and six others) were killed in the adjacent cities of Townsville and Thuringowa for humanitarian and animal control reasons. Of these private veterinary clinics accounted for 52% of the dogs and 57% of the cats, while an animal shelter handled the rest. The dogs at the animal shelter were significantly younger than those at the veterinary clinics (mean ages of 4.7 years and 1.4 years respectively), a greater percentage were sexually entire and a greater percentage were killed because they were unwanted (73.7%).
The shelter disposed of six times more unwanted dogs than the
clinics. The age distribution of unwanted dogs at the shelter
and the clinics was similar. Cats killed at the shelter were
much younger than those disposed of at the clinics (0.9 years
and 6.3 years respectively). Estimates of the numbers of dogs
and cats disposed of in the cities of Townsville and
Thuringowa for the 12 months from September, 1990 to August,
1991 were 2,533 dogs and 2,385 cats representing about 12% of
the estimated total population.
In 1983, a scheme to dispose of companion animals was introduced in the two, continuous municipalities of Townsville and Thuringowa, North Queensland. Under this scheme, which is currently operating, veterinary practices do not charge for humanely disposing of companion animals. All cadavers from the veterinary practices (other than those cremated for a fee or returned to owners) are collected and disposed of by the local councils without charge. This initiative, which involves the cooperation of 11 private veterinary practices and two city councils, was designed primarily to save unwanted pets from abandonment or from destruction by less humane means. The scheme was supported by the councils for animal welfare reasons and also on the grounds that it would probably reduce the cost of them collecting and processing abandoned animals. This free euthanasia scheme coincidentally made possible the gathering and analysis of data from a total community environment as opposed to shelter data being used to represent the level of pet disposal.
METHODS
The standard Australian Veterinary Association euthanasia consent form was modified for use by veterinarians both at the animal shelter administered by the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and at 11 private veterinary practices in Townsville-Thuringowa. Animal variables recorded were weight, age, sex and breed or type, together with reasons for disposal which included the following options: injured, aged, unwell, unwanted, stray, can't keep, dangerous, nuisance and can't afford. Those listed as unwanted were further analysed on the basis of age into "young unwanted" (three months of age and less), and "discards" (over three months of age). For further analysis, these reasons were grouped into three categories: "not wanted" (unwanted, stray); "physical" (injured, aged and unwell); and "incompatible" (can't keep, dangerous, nuisance and can't afford).
The number of cats and dogs killed per month at the shelter and one of the veterinary practices (Practice A) were recorded for a full 12-month period from September 1990 to August 1991 inclusive. In the month of August 1991, data was collected from the other 10 practices. Since the number of animals killed at the remaining 10 practices in the total 12- month period was not available, the shelter data and the data from the single practice were used to estimate the total number of dogs and cats killed. This estimate assumed that the ratio between animals killed at the shelter and those killed in private practice in August 1991 remained constant for each month in the 12-month period, and that consequently changes in numbers at the shelter would be mirrored by changes at the veterinary practices.
Data was handled using Paradox 3.5 relational database and more sophisticated statistical analyses were done using Statistix 4.2. To test for significant differences between shelter and practices data, Chi-square was used for the reasons for disposal and analysis of variance for age.
RESULTS
For the month of August 1991, 328 animals, including 206 (62.8%) dogs and 116 (35.4%) cats and six (1.8%) others (three birds, one rabbit and two not recorded) were killed. Of the dogs and cats, 99 dogs and 50 cats (46%) were killed at the shelter while 107 dogs and 66 cats (54%) were disposed of at the 11 veterinary practices. The ratio of numbers at shelter:practices were for dogs 1:1.08 and for cats 1:1.32. These values were then used to estimate the total numbers for the 12-month period.
Over the 12-month period, 1218 (54%) dogs and 1028 (46%) cats were killed at the shelter. Over the same 12-month period, 180 (52%) dogs and 129 (48%) cats were killed at Practice A. There was no significant difference between the relative proportions of dogs and cats killed at the two different locations over the 12-month interval.
Using the ratios above, the estimated total numbers killed in Townsville-Thuringowa for the 12-month period were 2,533 dogs and 2,385 cats. The number of dogs killed per month (101.5 +/- 24.2) at the shelter over this 12-month interval was less variable than the number of cats per month (85.7 +/- 45.1). The number of cats disposed of at the animal shelter almost doubled for the months of November and December, 1991, and January 1992. This amount of variation was not present in the data from Practice A.
Age and Sex
Age data (Fig. 1) available for 204 dog records and 94 cat
records from August, showed a highly significant age
difference (p = < 0.001) between animals from the practices
and from the shelter. The mean ages of dogs at the practices
and the shelter were 4.7 +/- 4.7 years and 1.4 +/- 1.4 years.
respectively, while for cats mean ages were 6.3 +/- 5.6 years
and 0.9 +/- 0.7 years respectively. In Figure 2, the sex
gender data indicates that most animals were entire, with the
entire bitch being comparatively the most frequent category.
FIGURE 1: A comparison of the age distribution of dogs and
cats disposed of at private veterinary clinics and the animal
shelter in Townsville-Thuringowa in August, 1991.
FIGURE 2: A comparison of the gender and sexual entirety of cats and dogs (e = entire and n = neutered) disposed of at private veterinary clinics and the animal shelter in Townsville-Thuringowa in August, 1991.
Breed/Types of Dogs
Table 1 outlines the breed type in relation to category of disposal. The Bull Terrier cross dog was frequently represented. The distribution of breed/types represented in the August 1991 dog data from practices was noticeably different to that from the shelter. The three most commonly represented breed categories of dogs killed at the practices were crossbred Bull Terriers (21.2%), Greyhounds (8.7%) and German Shepherds (7.7%), being 37.6% of all dog types. At the shelter, the three breed/type categories most commonly represented were crossbred Bull Terriers (30.3%), crossbred Cattle dogs (24.2%) and crossbred German Shepherds (13%), making up 67.5% of shelter dogs.
Table 1. Frequency of reasons
for disposal of dogs in August 1991 in Townsville-Thuringowa and
major breed types.
Reason | Number (%) | Mean Age (yrs) | Main breed/Type | Next breed Type |
Injured | 12 (5.8%) | 3.8 | N/A | N/A |
Aged | 8 (3.9%) | 12.5 | N/A | N/A |
Unwell | 51 (24.8%) | 4.6 | Bull T X (18%) | G Shep (10%) |
Unwanted | 89 (43.2%) | 1.6 | Bull T X (29%) | Cattle X (21%) |
Stray | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A |
Can't keep | 20 (9.7%) | 2.0 | Bull T X (45%) | Cattle X (10%) |
Dangerous | 13 (6.3%) | 2.5 | G Shep (15%) | Cattle X (15%) |
Nuisance | 10 (4.9%) | 4.5 | Lab X (25%) | N/A |
Cost | 3 (1.5%) | 1.7 | N/A | N/A |
Total | 206 | 1.6 |
Reasons for Disposal of Dogs
"Unwanted" was the most common reason for disposal of dogs (Table 1), with "unwell" clearly ranked second. German Shepherd and Cattle dog crossbreds were ranked equal first in the "dangerous" category and made up 30% of the total of this category. When reasons for disposal were grouped into the three general categories "physical", "not wanted" and "incompatible" their prevalences were 34.5%,43.2% and 22.3% respectively. Private clinic and shelter data differed significantly (p < 0.001) (Table 2), with the shelter disposing of dogs mainly because they were not wanted, while the clinics disposed of dogs for physical problems or for incompatibility.
Table 2. Grouped reasons for disposal of dogs in August 1991 in Townsville-Thuringowa.
Physical | Not wanted | Incompatible | Total | |
Private | 48 (44.9%) |
16 (15.0%) | 43 (40.2%) | 107 |
Shelter | 23 (23.2%) |
73 (73.7%) | 3 (3.0%) | 99 |
Total | 71 (34.5%) |
89 (43.2%) | 46 (22.3%) | 206 |
The shelter disposed of six times as many "not wanted" dogs as the clinics. Of the 89 dogs with "not wanted" as a reason for disposal, ages were available for 88. Young dogs (three months or less) made up 33.3% and 41.1% (p = 0.58) of the "not wanted" samples at the clinics and the shelter respectively. This "Young and not wanted" (overbreeding) category made up 30.3% of the total shelter sample, 4.7% of the total clinics sample and 16.9% (Fig. 3) of the overall sample of 206 dogs killed.
FIGURE 3: An analysis of reasons for disposal of 203 dogs and
115 cats at private veterinary practices and the animal
shelter during August, 1991.
Physical = old age, sickness or accidental injury;
Discards = not wanted and older than three months;
Incompatible = can't keep, nuisance or dangerous;
0verbreeding = not wanted and three months or younger
DISCUSSION
By including data from both veterinary practices and from the animal shelter, this project provided unique "whole of district" pet disposal data. Together with interesting results from recently published work in Brisbane (Upton, 1992), this study provides a background for more informed discussion about issues involved in pet surrender and abandonment.
Numbers
We estimated that approximately 2,533 dogs and 2,385 cats were disposed in the 12 months from September 1990 to August 1991. The dog population for the cities of Townsville- Thuringowa was estimated at approximately 20,000 (Murray, 1991). Assuming that urban cat population numbers are similar to dog numbers (Anon, 1990), the proportions of the dog and cat populations disposed of in the 12-month study period were approximatley 12% of the resident population in both species. In veterinary practices, 2,637 animals were killed without charge. The financial contribution (in income forgone) to this animal welfare initiative by the local veterinary practitioners over that time was calculated to be $79,110, allowing $30 per disposal. The economic value of the Townsville City Council contribution, a free cadaver collection service, was estimated to be $52,740.
Age and Sex
Differences in age and sexual entirety were highly significant between animals killed at veterinary clinics and those killed at the animal shelter (Fig. 2). Animals at the shelter were much younger and a greater proportion were sexually entire.
With the average age for dogs and cats at the animal shelter being 1.4 years and 0.9 years respectively, a higher proportion of undesexed animals in this population might be expected because of young age alone. However, as has previously been suggested (Upton, 1992), the link between the age of unwanted pets at the animal shelters and their tendency to be sexually entire is probably more one of owner attitude than it is of pet age. Investment in pet care (e.g., desexing) is unlikely to be a priority for owners who are more likely to surrender or abandon their pets.
Breed Types and Owner Types
The representation of crossbred Bull Terriers, crossbred Cattle Dogs and crossbred German Shepherds in shelter records was in contrast to 1991 Townsville City Council registration records which indicated the proportions of these same crossbred types to be 4.6%, 4.2% and 3% respectively, 11.8% of total registrations.
The data in Table 1 could be interpreted to indicate that some intrinsic characteristics of Bull Terrier crossbreeds, Cattle Dog crossbreeds and German Shepherd crossbred dogs particularly predispose them to being unsatisfactory types of pets. There is, however, strong anecdotal evidence in the general field of urban animal management to indicate the existence of a distinct subgroup of dog owners who seem to preferentially acquire such dogs. There is other anecdotal evidence which indicates a pattern of acquisition of puppies of this type. These circumstances also probably have an important bearing on their higher disposal rate. It has long been argued that pet owners are always very much a part of the pet problem and breed overrepresentation in disposal data is probably no different, i.e., it is a people factor. These "owner" factors and their influence on pet selection and disposal warrant more attention in future research on this subject. If data gathering methods include details of owners, as well as the animal issues involved, factors like type of contact with possible vendors, purchase prices, puppy sources, reasons for acquisition and socio- economic circumstances (of both the vendor and the purchaser) could be analysed.
Reasons for Disposal
The proportion of voune unwanted dogs and cats in the August sample was noteworthy with respect to the causes of pet disposal. The "young not wanted" group (three months and less) of pups and kittens was less than 20% of the total sample. If this "young not wanted" group can be fairly described as representing the effect of over-breeding as distinct from unwantedness, it can be seen that the effect of over-breeding was of relatively minor importance, at least in these disposal statistics.
While reasonably high numbers of cats had been recorded as strays, none of the dogs were so categorised. As Upton (1992) commented, most discarded dogs are at a shelter either directly or indirectly because owners do not want them any more. This suggests a basic difference in the epidemiology of the unwanted cat as compared to the unwanted dog problem.
Shelter Factors
The extent of differences between the animals presented at the veterinary practices and those at the animal shelter is related to both owner and animal factors. The difference between client type at veterinary practices versus animal shelters can not be overlooked. When an owner surrenders a pet at a veterinary practice, that person has generally made a personal decision as to the pet's fate. However, at animal shelters, while some pets are admitted specifically for disposal, most are not. Leaving unwanted pets at an animal shelter is a relatively easy option for uncommitted owners, especially if there is a belief that the animal will probably be rehomed rather than killed. Names like "animal shelter" and "animal refuge" do infer that such institutions are maintained expressly for the purpose of keeping and caring for unwanted animals. It seems inevitable therefore that this is where unwanted pets will tend to go, particularly as this pet disposal option will cause less anguish to the owner. Additionally is the fact that personal identity of the owner is less likely to occur at a shelter.
The problem for animal shelters is that the decision about the fate of the animal has ultimately to be made by somebody other than the owner and that decision is often for disposal. The heavy emotional burden that this displaced responsibility places on animal shelter staff is well recognised (Arluke, 1991).
If all clients surrendenng pets to animal shelters were required to complete and sign a clearly marked surrender form which indicates a consent to perform euthanasia if the animal was unable to be rehomed, the reality of surrendering ownership at animal shelters might be hereafter appreciated. This strategy may prompt the "easy disposal option" clients to have second thoughts about the ethics of their actions or could, negatively, lead to more direct abandonment.
Breed Recording
The lack of an established method for identifying cross breed types made analysis of data for the effect of breed difficult. Existing breed identification methods for crossbreds most often identify only one parent type, e.g., Bull Terrier cross. This omits at least one other parent type from the data base. A standard binomial dog breed identification method would solve much of this problem. Under such a system, breed type would be filed in two database fields for each dog. One field for sire and another for dam. In cases where no particular type is evident because of marked type dilution, three new breed categones of large multibreed, medium multibreed and small multibreed would suffice.
Differences in Perspective
Shelters dispose of animals which are younger, usually sexually entire and mainly unwanted. They dispose of a greater number of unwanted dogs that are three months of age or less. The veterinary practices dispose of annimals which are older and mainly for reasons other than not being wanted. They dispose of the same proportion of young unwanted dogs as the shelter, but in much lower numbers. Shelters in general perceive the pet problem to be due to overbreeding, possibly explained by the age and sex profile of the pets they kill. Consequently, lack of desexing is seen as a problem with free or subsidised speys offered as a solution. Private veterinarians who dispose of a different group of animals for different reasons,do not see overbreeding as the major problem. Consequently, for these and economic reasons, most veterinarians in private practice are strongly opposed to subsidised or free speying schemes. To find an acceptible middle ground, both animal shelters and private clinics have to recognise collective data such as that presented here which analyses the overall euthanasia issue for a defined population.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research project was made possible by the cooperation
between our colleagues in all 11 local vetennary practices,
Townsville and Thunngowa City Councils, and the local animal
shelter.
REFERENCES
ANON. (1990). Approaches to Pet Management for Local
Government. Environment and Technology Policy Unit Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne.
ARLUKE, A. (1991). Coping with euthanasia: a case study of
shelter culture. J. Am. Vet Med. Assoc. 198:1176.
MURRAY, R.W. (1991). An Analysis of the Characteristics,
Social Impact and Management of the Townsville Dog
Population. MSc Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
UPTON, B. (1992). Animal shelter management, animal control
and animal welfare. Proc. First National Conference on Urban
Animal Management in Australia. Ed. Murray, R.W. p.138.
Chiron Media, Mooloolah.