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Factors influencing how long a dog stays in a shelter
PRŮŠOVÁ, Zdenka
There were 1 643 dogs accepted to the dog shelter in Tábor in the years 20082015, wherein the amount of annualy accepted dogs slightly decreased. Dogs, that were returned to the original owner, spent shorter time (median 1 day) in the shelter than dogs, that were left alone and found a new home (median 18 days). The shelter accepted more male than female dogs. Simultaneously, male spent in the shelter longer time than female. Most of the dogs accepted to the shelter were younger than 1 year. The most common colour was black, the majority of dogs had a short and soft hair. Hybrids predominated among accepted dogs, following by German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and Dachshunds (or their hybrids). Dogs with a good character prevailed in the shelter. Data on abandoned dogs were statistically processed. There were found a significant effect of following variables on the length of stay in the shelter - age, height, purebred, temperament, colour, length and type of hair, and also the month of entry into the shelter. With increasing age and size (height) of dog there was demonstrably extended length of dogs stay in the shelter before they were adopted, as well as an aggressive character and dogs accepted in the shelter in October or November. Interestingly, the visually purebred dogs (corresponding to a certain breed standard) looked for a new home longer time than hybrids, provably. On the other hand, dogs with a light-coloured, soft or short hair and dogs accepted in February or April stayed in the shelter shorter time. When advertising the abandoned dogs for adoption, it is necessary to focus primarily on dogs that spend in the shelter longer time on average that means male dogs, large dogs, older dogs, dogs with long, black or rough hair and aggressive or temperamental dogs.
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