icawc 2014 - workshop shelter quality protocol part 2 tatjana zajec
DESCRIPTION
ICAWC 2014 , Istanbul - Workshop on Shelter Quality ProtocolTRANSCRIPT
Practical overview of the SQ protocolTatjana Zajec, DVM
Shelter for Abandoned Animals – Zagreb, CroatiaIstanbul, ICAWC 6th – 8th October 2014.
Introduction
• We assessed 10 shelters in the NW part of Croatia – we compared 3 of them (similar position, number of
sheltered dogs and mentality of people
Shelter for Abandoned Animals – Zagreb
20 employees: • 3 veterinarians (a shelter manager)• 2 vet. nurses• 4 animal officers• 8 animal handlers• 1 educator• 1 administrator• 1 marketing person- PR agency, volunteers, probation workers, practice etc.
Shelter info
- first Croatian shelter - since 2001.; City of Zagreb - no kill policy - budget 530.000 euros - every dog is microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and other infectious diseases and neutered - animal health clinic - 600 dogs rehomed in 2013.
Major welfare problems
• Overpopulation • Contagious diseases (parvo virus!)• Aggressive dogs – need for euthanasia• Understaffed – need for continuous education
SQ Protocol
• What SQ Protocol showed us??? - ESP index is 0,74 ( highest in Croatia) - we need to train our staff in some areas →clicker training, animal handling, daily routines (battle against diseases)
New agility poligon,2014.
What did we do?
EDUCATION!!!every week a new workshop:
• animals – calming signals – training & socialization – positive reinforcement→ clicker training
What did we do?
EDUCATION!!! Staff:• communication skills (people, volunteers, media, vet.inspection, police, etc.)
What did we do?
Veterinary care: - every day battle against germs! - animal health clinic
3 shelters – comparison
Shelter No 1 Shelter No 2 Shelter No 3
Location North part of Croatia
North part of Croatia
North part of Croatia
Capacity Aprox. 50 dogs Aprox. 50 dogs Aprox. 50 dogs
No of pens 4 20 20
Problems aggression, biting, mortality
No major animal welfare issues
No major welfare issues
Employees 1 vet (old rigid views),
2 technicians
1 vet (young, proactive),
2 technicians
NGO shelter, no permanent staff
Emotional State Profile Index
• ESP index of the three Croatian shelters:• Brezje 0,66; • Zlatar 0,67;• Koprivnica 0,58
• The first two are over the 75% percentile, meaning that overall the impression that the assessor had was of a general positive emotional state of the dogs in these shelters
• Last one needs some major improvements
Major differences
1. Infrastructure (No of pens)2. Human resources (rigid vs proactive managers)3. Welfare problems (aggression, mortality vs no major
problems)• Biggest problems in Croatian shelters by our experience are:
human and infrastructure capacity level• But, keep in mind, that even with low level of infrastructure
there is a possibility to have an appropriate level of welfare if manager is proactive.
