Infectious Disease Management in Animal Shelters. Группа авторов

of required holding periods)

       Animal health and demeanor, taking steps as needed to address medical and behavioral concerns, reduce stress and improve comfort (e.g. moving a stressed dog to a quieter ward)

       Actions required to move the animal toward the best possible outcome, such as scheduling surgery, contacting rescue, promoting adoption, etc.

      The daily rounds team is not expected to both identify and accomplish all needed actions. Rather, daily rounds are a time to capture and assign tasks to the appropriate staff members. While it may seem daunting at first, rounds will more than repay the time it requires to complete them by identifying and removing bottlenecks to animal flow, resolving issues before they cause delays, and noticing and addressing animals' needs to prevent, or at least mitigate, health and behavioral risks. Ultimately, daily rounds save substantial staff time and reduce costs overall.

      1.3.2.2 Fast Track Management and Open Selection

      A common concern around reducing LOS is that animals will not have time to find their perfect match, especially those with more extensive needs or that are simply a little less likely to appeal to the average adopter. It's important to remember that arbitrary time limits are not a method to reduce the LOS, nor is rushing to euthanasia ever a solution unless an animal is irremediably suffering. Fortunately, such measures are not needed: programs to reduce LOS are designed to benefit all animals passing through the shelter, regardless of their perceived adoptability.

      One way to ensure sufficient resources for those animals that require more of an investment is to capitalize fully on the potential of some animals to move through the shelter system very quickly. Fast Track management and Open Selection are two well‐described methods to accomplish this. The purpose of introducing them here is to familiarize the reader with the concepts and terminology should they wish to pursue more information, which is widely available in publications and web‐based sheltering resources.

       1.3.2.2.1 Fast Track Management

      Fast Track management involves identifying those animals that, as noted above, have the potential to move rapidly through the shelter to adoption. While each shelter should identify what makes an animal “fast track” based on their own records and experience, for most shelters, this will include puppies, kittens, and friendly, healthy, non‐geriatric animals, especially those with an unusual breed/appearance, a compelling story, or physical features such as one eye or extra toes that make them appear to be most adoptable.

At its most basic, Fast Track management simply means that these animals “skip to the head of the line” to be processed first. In other words, rather than processing animals in order of intake date, the most adoptable animals get the first spot available in surgery or on the adoption floor. While this may initially seem unfair, Fast Track management tends to benefit “slow track” animals equally, if not more. By moving the fast trackers through quickly, population density is reduced, leaving more space and time to care for, enrich and promote the slow trackers; all of which also helps them move through the shelter more quickly. In fact, some shelters have reported greater decreases in LOS for slow trackers than for fast trackers following a shift to this management method. Additional resources on this subject can be found in the textbook “Shelter Medicine for Veterinarians and Staff” and by searching online for the term Fast Track management in animal shelters (Newbury and Hurley 2012). At the time of publication, two excellent resources on this subject could be found at (https://www.animalsheltering.org/magazine/articles/life‐fast‐lane) and https://www.sheltermedicine.com/library/resources/?r=fast‐track‐slow‐track‐flow‐through‐planning.

       1.3.2.2.2 Open Selection

      Open Selection simply refers to the practice of allowing potential adopters to view, interact with and select animals during their holding period. It is appropriate for any potentially adoptable animal, without valid identification or other indicators, that they are likely to be reclaimed. By allowing Open Selection, the legal hold on a stray animal can serve the double purpose of allowing animals to be considered for adoption at the same time as awaiting possible reclaim, with the benefit that the potential adopters themselves will then indicate which animals are truly “Fast Track.” By definition, any animal selected for adoption during its hold period has the potential to move quickly through the system and should be prioritized for surgery or any required procedures as soon as they can legally be performed.

      Logistically speaking, depending on the housing setup, Open Selection animals can be directly housed in adoption areas with signage indicating that they are not yet available, or visitors can be allowed into stray holding areas. Either way, a simple system should be developed to document holds and determine priority, if more than one potential adopter is interested. Open Selection alone can have a surprisingly big impact on lowering the LOS and reducing population density, sometimes opening the door for more resource‐intensive interventions such as daily rounds or housing improvements. This is especially true where a long stray hold inevitably prolongs LOS or when lack of room in adoptions or lack of staff for needed procedures (such as testing or surgery) leaves animals to languish in the shelter past their date of availability.

      1.3.2.3 Other Methods to Reduce the Length of Stay

      In addition to the methods outlined above, shelter managers and veterinarians should work together with policymakers and other stakeholders, as needed, to reduce unproductive LOS at every opportunity. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but some methods may include:

       Reduce or eliminate stray‐holding periods, especially for animals unlikely to be reclaimedIn most shelters, reclaim – or at least initial contact with an owner – tends to occur within the first few days of impound. Holding periods beyond this tend to delay progress along other life‐saving pathways.

       Eliminate voluntary intake quarantine periods for healthy appearing animals (as described earlier in this chapter).This includes eliminating holds for puppies and kittens awaiting second vaccines. The best protection for young animals is to practice excellent biosecurity when handling and housing in a shelter, and to move them out into homes (permanent or foster) as quickly as possible.Intake quarantine may still be indicated for animals with an extraordinarily high risk of serious disease, such as transfers from a shelter experiencing an active parvovirus or distemper outbreak or victims of animal hoarding.

       Eliminate bottlenecks associated with procedures that can only be performed by specialized staff, especially those that are difficult to interpret or provide limited additional information to adopters.Consider allowing feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) testing to be performed by the adopter's veterinarian with the opportunity for more in‐depth conversation and follow‐up about the implications and uncertainties of test interpretation and prognosis in a healthy cat.Consider replacing formal behavior evaluations in dogs with a holistic assessment of the dog's history and behavior throughout the shelter stay. Some shelter medicine and behavior experts have raised questions about the validity of non‐ peer‐reviewed behavior evaluations of shelter animals for adoption (Patronek and Bradley 2016).

       Perform spay/neuter surgery on healthy, robust kittens at 1.5 pounds rather than waiting until they reach 2 pounds.Though 2 pounds/1 kg have been common cut‐offs for surgical weight in kittens, there is no scientific basis for this tradition and 1.5 pounds is considered acceptable from both a surgical and developmental perspective (ASV 2016).The same surgical, anesthetic, before‐ and after‐care precautions should be used as for pediatric spay/neuter in 2‐pound kittens.This can be especially helpful in reducing LOS when foster options are limited and kittens must spend time in the shelter awaiting either a foster home or surgery.

      1.3.3 The Importance of Good