New US center offers help for dogs consumed by fear
People want their dog to be a friend, not afraid. But sometimes fear grips dogs so tightly that they shake, cower, bite, growl or pee. It can be constant, painful and hard to overcome. Such dread can consume a dog when it's freed from a cage at a puppy mill or hoarder's home because that's the only life the dog has ever known.
Until now, it was up to animal shelters to ease the fears, knowing if they didn't, euthanasia was the likely alternative. But recently, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) opened its Behavioral Rehabilitation Center at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, New Jersey. It's a two-year research project being financed by the ASPCA.
For now, dogs seized from puppy mills and hoarders will be the primary patients, said Kristen Collins, the ASPCA's director of anti-cruelty behavior rehabilitation and director of the center. Dogs will come from shelters across the U.S. as well as from seizures involving the ASPCA.
The research will also provide some numbers, Collins said. No one knows how many shy dogs are being placed in homes now. And little is known about how they fare after placement, so center staff will spend a lot of time following up on animals. The average stay for most dogs will be six to eight weeks, "but we don't have a hard and fast rule. All dogs are individuals. We will be flexible," Collins said.
A team of 10 people, including two behavior experts from St. Hubert's, will staff the center. Volunteers and daily caretakers will feed the dogs and clean kennels. Graduating dogs will return to a shelter for placement and ASPCA shelter partners will continue working with the dogs if needed, Collins said.
St. Hubert's is a longtime partner of the ASPCA and jumped at the chance to be involved, said President and CEO Heather Cammisa. Fear and anxiety are major factors that can hinder a dog's quality of life, she said. "If they are fearful, then they don't have a good quality of life and they are not going to be selected for adoption, so this is just a win-all-around," she said.
The center will only be able to handle about 400 dogs during the project's two scheduled years, so it won't take an immediate burden off shelters, Collins said, but if researchers can come up with new ways to ease fear, anxiety and shyness in abused dogs, it could have a widespread impact. And success could mean another phase in the study, to include fighting dogs, or even cats, Collins said.
新的美國收容所義助受驚過度的犬隻
人們希望狗兒是他們的朋友，而不是要牠們害怕。但有時狗兒卻會落入深沈的恐懼中，牠們發抖、俯伏、亂咬、咆哮、甚至會隨地小便。這類恐懼可能持續不斷、很痛苦、也很難克服。狗兒從養殖場或私營狗圈的籠中釋放出來時往往會深感恐懼，因為這是牠們唯一經歷過的生活。
在此以前，是否設法緩和犬隻的恐懼，完全由動物收容中心作主，假如這些收容中心不採取行動，可性能最高的另一選擇便是安樂死。但最近美國防止虐畜協會的行為復健中心在新澤西州麥迪森市聖胡伯特動物福利中心內啟用。這其實是一項為期兩年研究計畫，經費由美國防止虐畜協會提供。
據美國防止虐畜協會反殘酷行為復健主任兼該中心主任克麗汀柯林斯說，從養殖場或私營狗圈沒入的犬隻將是中心目前的主要病患。此外，犬隻也將來自美國各地收容中心以及美國防止虐畜協會參與的查扣行動。
柯林斯說，研究計畫將提出一些統計數字。目前收容中心怯懦犬隻的數目，完全沒有人確知。牠們在獲得安置之後的命運如何，資訊也幾乎完全厥如。所以中心人員將要花很多功夫對動物進行後續追蹤。據柯林斯說，大部分犬隻的平均逗留時間將是六到八個禮拜。她說：「但我們沒有嚴格的規定。所有狗兒都是個別的，我們將會有彈性。」
包括兩位來自聖胡伯特中心行為專家在內的十人小組將擔任福利中心員工。志工和每日看護人員則會負責餵食與清理犬舍的工作。柯林斯說，療程結束的狗兒將回到收容中心等候安置，必要時和美國防止虐畜協會的合作夥伴將繼續處理這些犬隻。
聖胡伯特動物福利中心總裁兼執行長希瑟肯美沙說，該中心是美國防止虐畜會的長年合作夥伙，對有機會參加這項計畫感到不勝雀躍。她說，恐懼和焦慮是可能影響犬隻生活品質的主要因素之一。他說：「假如牠們心裡害怕，牠們的生活品質就不會好，就不會被人相中認養。所以這是一個對各方都有利的辦法。」
柯林斯說，在計畫預定的兩年之內，中心只能夠處理約四百隻狗，因此未能馬上解決收容中心的負擔，但假如研究人員發現了緩和受虐犬隻恐懼、焦慮和怯懦的新方法，將有可能產生長足的影響。柯林斯說，假如取得成功，研究將進入新階段，到時會把鬥犬，甚至貓咪，都納入計畫之內。
資料來源 http://chinapost.com.tw/guidepost/topics/default.asp?id=3548&pre=1&sub=23
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