title: Behavioural and physiological indicators of shelter dogs' welfare: reflections on the no-kill policy on free-ranging dogs in Italy revisited on the basis of 15 years of implementation.
abstract: The Italian National Law 281 of 1991 forbids the euthanatization of free-ranging dogs, unless they have an incurable illness or are proved to be dangerous. Without neglecting the undeniable benefits of the "no-kill" policy, nevertheless it has brought about a chronic overpopulation in shelters and, as a result, higher costs of management and welfare problems since some dogs remain in the shelter for life. In 2004-2008, the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of the Lazio and Tuscany regions carried out a survey in the Lazio Region to verify the effects of the Italian National Law 281/91 on free-ranging dog management following 15 years from its implementation. One of the aims of the study was an assessment of the welfare of dogs in a shelter sample (8 shelters out of 47 censused in the Lazio Region). 97 mixed-breed dogs were selected, their behaviour was studied and a blood sample was taken for each dog in order to determine the individual blood concentration of cortisol and the amount of oxidative damage (level of dRoms), as well as the amount of antioxidants to cope with it. Moreover, the total leukocyte count (leukogram) was accomplished. We ran general backward stepwise regression models using "level of antioxidant", "level of dRoms" and "level of serum cortisol" as dependent variables respectively. The results showed that the most important variable that improved the level of welfare of dogs consisted in having the opportunity to regularly go out of the cage for a walk, whereas other variables like gender, size of the cage (small, medium, large), being alone in the cage, and being neutered/entire, had no significant effect on the physiological indicators of welfare. Dogs that enjoyed the regular walk had a higher total antioxidant capacity, and performed a lower frequency of displacing activities and stereotyped behaviour. Moreover, oxidative stress parameters seem to be indicators well matched with behavioural indicators of stress. Thus, for the first time, markers of oxidative status are utilised for the welfare evaluation in the domestic dog. Furthermore, the results of this paper give some suggestion about how small steps can help to improve shelters and, furthermore, this paper intends to solicit the debate on the no-kill policy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Italy; Wolf Science Center, Ernstbrunn, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cafazzo
authors.affiliation: Azienda USL Roma D, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maragliano
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonanni
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle regioni Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scholl
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle regioni Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guarducci
authors.affiliation: Azienda USL Roma H, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scarcella
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle regioni Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Paolo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biometrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université de Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pontier
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle regioni Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Azienda USL Roma H, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carlevaro
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle regioni Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bucci
authors.affiliation: Azienda USL Roma H, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cerini
authors.affiliation: Azienda USL Roma H, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carlevaro
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle regioni Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alfieri
authors.affiliation: Azienda USL Roma D, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fantini
authors.affiliation: Azienda USL Roma D, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: enatoli@tiscali.it.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Natoli
mesh_terms: D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D006799:Housing, Animal; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007558:Italy; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Domestic dogs; No-kill policy; Oxidative stress·shelter; Welfare