There are organizations for re-homing animals that are also specialized in re-homing dogs and cats who have been research subjects. Why can’t we do this for more animals and especially for the rats that are used extensively in research and they are not intended to be pets as they are not as common as pets? Even though previous research highlights neonatal handling as an essential process for rearing less stressed and emotionally sensitive adult rats, there is very little information about a specific neonatal handling schedule that could be a crucial factor in promoting their welfare and adoption as pets. The aim of this study is to propose a standardized handling schedule assessment based on implementation of a neonatal handling procedure that mimics maternal behavior, in order to have a positive effect on the rats’ welfare, decreasing their stress responsiveness towards humans and promoting their adoption as pets. DA rats (DA/OlaHsd) were handled during postnatal days 1 (D1) to 21 (D21) (experimental group, n=15) using a handling schedule that imitates rat maternal behavior or received only gold standard neonatal handling (control group, n=14). On D22, blinded researchers evaluated the behaviour of both groups according to their responses to handling. Blinding was used, as to try to eliminate biased results, as to examine the rats' behavior against strangers which is a crucial factor for their suitability as pets. The data were collected through a customized assessment form. The statistical analysis of both groups’ cumulative responses showed that the experimental group had less stressful responses compared to the control group (Mann-Whitney (U) test: U= 13; P < 0.01). This neonatal handling schedule may improve rat welfare during their life in the lab. Also, it could be a method that assists laboratory rats to be adopted as pets after their laboratory life.

ABSTRACT To date, research on canine-assisted interventions has focused on identifying the effects of spending time with therapy dogs on the well-being of participants and, to a lesser extent, exploring the effects of canine-assisted interventions on therapy dogs as a means of safeguarding canine welfare. Little empirical attention has focused on understanding the experience of volunteer canine handlers – agents at the heart of the success of canine-assisted interventions. The aim of this exploratory research was to first capture the voice of handlers to better understand their experience as volunteers and second to provide preliminary insights into their well-being. Sixty volunteer handlers with varying volunteer experience with a canine therapy program at a mid-size Canadian university responded to a series of open-ended prompts related to their volunteer work and completed a battery of well-being measures. Qualitative findings revealed that most participants identified social benefits to volunteering for themselves (64%) and for their dog (55%). The perceived impact on students (33%) and the ability to help university students (36%) were the most rewarding aspects of volunteering. Although drawn to volunteer by the program itself (36%), motivations to continue volunteering were predominantly associated with personal benefits of volunteering (44%). Most handlers reported no challenges associated with volunteering (73%) and qualified their dog as happy after sessions (71%). Participants commonly described good therapy dogs as relaxed, calm, and respectful (66%) and strong handlers as having good awareness of their dog (48%). Quantitative findings revealed volunteer handlers reported elevated levels of positive affect (p = < 0.001, d = 1.19), greater satisfaction with life (p = < 0.001, d = 0.85) and lower levels of avoidant attachment to their therapy dog (p = < 0.001, d = -1.16) when compared to normative samples. Implications for the governing of on-campus programs and handler well-being are discussed.

A positive association has been found between owner-rated dog cognition and owner-perceived closeness to their dog, using the Perceptions of Dog Intelligence and Cognitive Skills (PoDIaCS) survey and the Monash Dog Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS). Oxytocin has been positively associated with bonding in mammals and with non-verbal intelligence in humans and could therefore explain this relationship between owner-rated questionnaires. The aims of this study were to ascertain: i) whether a pet dog’s performance on an object choice task (OCT), which objectively measures dogs’ ability to use human non-verbal, social gestures to find a food reward, could be predicted by their owners’ scores on three different surveys: (a) the MDORS, (b) the Pet Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), which measures levels of anxious and avoidant attachment styles, and (c) a modified version of the PoDIaCS, and ii) if intranasal administration of oxytocin to dogs, known to enhance dogs’ performance on such tasks, would disable the ability of an owner to predict their dogs’ performance. It was hypothesized that higher ratings of owner-reported closeness to their dog, and higher ratings of owner-perceived intelligence of their dog, would positively predict dog OCT performance after saline, but not after oxytocin. Seventy-five pet dogs and their owners were recruited to participate in two OCTs, 5-15 days apart, once after the dog received intranasal oxytocin and once after receiving saline. Owners completed the PoDIaCS and another survey relating to pet ownership before OCT 1, and the MDORS and PAQ before OCT 2. After saline administration, scores on the anxious subscale of the PAQ were a negative predictor of dog OCT performance using pointing cues, while subscale 6 of the PoDIaCS, ‘contagion of human emotions’, positively predicted performance using gazing cues. None of the questionnaire subscales were predictive of performance on the OCT after oxytocin administration. Results suggest that a dog’s ‘natural’ ability to follow human pointing cues and anxious attachment in owners are inversely related, whilst a dog’s ‘natural’ ability to follow human gazing cues is positively related to owner-rated empathic ability of the dog.

A significant number of homeless people own dogs, with these animals contributing to the well-being of their owners by providing emotional support and in many cases, a reason for living as well as acting as what might be termed a social catalyst improving bonds between their owners. Yet many consider that homeless people should not be allowed, let alone encouraged to keep a dog. They consider that living with a homeless people must have a negative impact on the dog’s health and welfare compared to that of a dog owned by people with a home. Here we sought to determine the health and welfare of dogs owned by homeless people, comparing 50 dogs owned by homeless people with 50 owned by people living in a home. In contradistinction to the negative view noted above, we found that dogs owned by homeless people were healthy animals, less likely to be obese, had fewer behaviour issues such as aggression to strangers and separation anxiety when compared to dogs owned by people living in a conventional home. We suggest that these findings should be taken into account when deciding whether a homeless person with a dog should be allowed into a hostel, and indeed the general attitude of the public to homeless people living with a dog by their side on the street

Cat owners and volunteers from a rehoming centre were given the Lexington Attachment to Pet Scale (LAPS) questionnaire to assess their level of attachment to their own or rescue cats. In addition, heart rate and blood pressure were measured 10 minutes before, during, and after spending time with the cats. Consistent with other studies, the results here show that spending time with a cat can reduce heart rate and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and that this reduction is generally more pronounced in the cats’ owners rather than in volunteers from a cat rehoming centre. For owners, levels of attachment as measured by the LAPS scale were positively associated with this reduction in metabolic measurements before and during pet presence; i.e. the difference (B-D) was positively correlated with the level of attachment. This was not observed for volunteers. Interestingly, however, reported levels of attachment were not significantly different between owners and volunteers. For owners, duration of ownership had a positive effect on the level of attachment reported and this effect increased sharply after two plus years of ownership. This contribution to Human Animal Interaction (HAI) research suggests that attachment is an important factor in promoting health benefits to owners.