Today I received an extremely insightful and passionate e-mail from the Founder of CRCS [Canine Rehabilitation Centre and Sanctuary], Kristen Ivey.
" Hi Jordan,
Congrats on your schooling and good luck with your dissertation! Sounds exciting! I of course am biased, but you could not have picked a more wonderful subject!
I am happy to answer any questions you may have or be a resource for you during your project.
Yes, shelter environments can be extremely difficult on the dogs. They are loud, harsh, and high stress. And no, dogs cannot fully recover and rehabilitate in the shelter environment. But, that isn't typically the mission of shelters. The mission is usually to get as many dogs off the streets, provide shelter and care for them, and get them back out into good homes as quickly as possible. They focus more on high volume adoption, quick turnaround, and safety of the community. With that in mind, they are thinking of the most efficient ways to be able to bring in a large number of dogs and be able to clean after them quickly and efficiently with disease control in mind and sanitation. Hopefully, anyway.
We typically step in for dogs that cannot handle the environment of the shelter or dogs that have been through so much that they would loose it in the shelter. Our dogs would deteriorate (or already have) in that environment. We focus on recovery and rehabilitation. I could probably talk about it all day... the difference between shelters, rescue groups, and organizations like ours. I'm happy to answer any questions. Feel free to contact me anytime.
Have a wonderful day!
Kristen Ivey, MA Founder, Executive Director Canine Rehabilitation Center and Sanctuary "
Following the response, I realise Kristen's case study is fundamental for my project due to the similarity in mission and passion regarding dog rehabilitation. I feel this method of rehabilitation could benefit greatly in the UK. Nonetheless, with our economic climate from previous research, it is doubtful this would be a priority for funding.
Within the e-mail, Kristen made an extremely valid point. The design of dog shelters is not meant for rehabilitation, but to 'focus more on high volume adoption, quick turnaround and safety for the community'. This has lead me to ensure my mindset remains objective. Dog shelters are not setting out to destroy these animals, ideally they exist to care for dogs as efficiently and hygienically as possible.
(Kristen Ivey (crcsreno@att.net), 2014. Dissertation and Final Project Research. 7th October 2014. Email to: Jordan James-Bruce (jordan.james-bruce@live.co.uk).)