Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello All,
We are a rural shelter, and our local government is involved in a lot of what we do, although we are a private shelter with a county contract. We recently had a rough year with a beloved shelter dog ending up euthanized due to him biting several times (and nipping a few more) but only breaking skin twice. He was deemed dangerous by our local dog wardens and our typical protocol is that we do not adopt out "dangerous dogs" and euthanize them at request of the dog wardens. 

This particular case was fought for months. The argument was "If he really wanted to do damage, he would have" and "he was merely and overgrown puppy that just needed training".  This dog was large and was in our shelter for almost two years with no interest. We operate at max capacity and on a small staff, so we are unable to offer much in the way of behavioral programs for our dogs that really need them, but we are working on it as we do not want to see this happen again. We are a no kill shelter and want to remain that way, so I am curious about what other shelters do in similar scenarios. 

What is your shelter's bite policy? Do you give dogs several chances? Does the reason behind the bite(s) factor into your decisions? Do you have local dog wardens that are involved in your euthanasia decisions? 

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
#EducationandTraining
#FieldServicesandPublicSafety*

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Karissa Reynolds
Executive Director
Humane Society of the Ohio Valley, Inc.
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It is always heartbreaking when a dog bites someone. The Shelter I am affiliated is in a rural community-- our rule-- adoptable or not adoptable. Safety is the #1 concern. Euthanizing an animal is never a one person decision.
​

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Jody CaseKennedy
Retired/Board Secretary- Co-Treasurer
Humane Society Port Jervis/Deerpark
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Thank you, Jody. I agree safety is the #1 concern.​

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Karissa Reynolds
Executive Director
Humane Society of the Ohio Valley, Inc.
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-02-2023 03:12 PM
From: Jody CaseKennedy
Subject: Dog Bite Policy

It is always heartbreaking when a dog bites someone. The Shelter I am affiliated is in a rural community-- our rule-- adoptable or not adoptable. Safety is the #1 concern. Euthanizing an animal is never a one person decision.
​

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Jody CaseKennedy
Retired/Board Secretary- Co-Treasurer
Humane Society Port Jervis/Deerpark
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Hi Karissa -

That's really hard - I hope your staff and volunteers feel supported through those challenging decisions.

I have a few thoughts:

•  I've shared this elsewhere, and it is likely more wordy than you are looking for, but I find ourPet Evaluation Matrix (PEM) very helpful and objective (within that objectivity we still treat each animal as an individual).  We publish it online, so our entire community is aware of how we make end of life decisions. You'll see some things that I think might apply for you: an objective bite scale (including the level of damage and whether or not it could have been more severe, as your team argued in this individual case), the trigger for that behavior (is it avoidable in the average home in the community, so you can make the argument that the animal is indeed safe to place), and we use the Fear Free Sheltering's scale for scoring levels of fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration based on body language and observed behaviors for another objective measure of how the dog is doing (in a particular environment - is a different environment available?).
• That PEM is based on some collected outside works (like the Dunbar bite scale), and similar documents from other communities, so if you were to edit something similar for your organization's use, it may carry some weight with your dog wardens (we don't deal with this, as we are able to make our own euthanasia decisions - it's a different structure in our government).
• Are there ordinanced guidelines for how an owner of a declared dangerous dog must act? In our community, it's muzzle when off the owner's property, a special registration, and stricter leash laws. Perhaps if you can follow those guidelines when adopting a dog to a new home, the dog wardens would be more amenable. If there isn't a gap between "declared dangerous" and "euthanasia," perhaps that's a project for legislative change?
• I think this might be a great subject for the next time you negotiate your County contracts, or an opportunity to edit the Scope of Work for that contract in between negotiation renewals.

Finally, and completely separately, two years of a dog living in a shelter sounds far outside a reasonable length of stay.  I think different organizations deal with long term animals very differently (and I'm definitely not saying that we don't have some very long term residents here). It is hard to imagine many dogs keeping a reasonable quality of life - meaning low daily levels of fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration - for this length of time in a kenneled environment. But with a resident of two years, euthanasia decision conversations for staff and volunteers become much more challenging. Having regular documented measurements of how a dog is doing (we use FASF scoring, but sometimes also quality of life checklists for chronic medical conditions) can help everyone see if a dog is doing better, worse, or maintaining over time, because for individuals he/she knows, they may always seem like their regular happy self. There's two discussions here: (1) how do you keep staff and volunteer morale and emotion in mind when discussing options for long-term animals, and (2) are there policies in place for landmarks in an animal's stay (e.g. 2 weeks = new kennel card description and picture, 4 weeks = foster push, etc.)?

I hope any of that is helpful. It's definitely not an easy topic or easy "fix!"

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Emily Wood
Director
Broward County Animal Care
Fort Lauderdale FL
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Thank you, Emily.  I really appreciate the resource you provided. I do believe it will be helpful as we enter into our county contract renewals. 
We technically do have the option to adopt out dogs that are deemed dangerous provided the new adopters obey the laws that come with that designation. However, it's always been a practice that we do not adopt dangerous dogs out for liability reasons and the pushback we get from out county commissioners. With the most recent case, the commissioners threatened to pull funding if we were to adopt out. 
Our length of stay has always been an issue, but he was a rare case. We are beginning to see more long timers, though. We are an open admission shelter so many of our dogs have issues with other animals, kids, women, men, etc. We are enrolled in a few programs at the moment to hopefully provide more guidance on how to effectively decrease length of stay.

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Karissa Reynolds
Executive Director
Humane Society of the Ohio Valley, Inc.
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-03-2023 07:08 AM
From: Emily Wood
Subject: Dog Bite Policy

Hi Karissa -

That's really hard - I hope your staff and volunteers feel supported through those challenging decisions.

I have a few thoughts:

•  I've shared this elsewhere, and it is likely more wordy than you are looking for, but I find ourPet Evaluation Matrix (PEM) very helpful and objective (within that objectivity we still treat each animal as an individual).  We publish it online, so our entire community is aware of how we make end of life decisions. You'll see some things that I think might apply for you: an objective bite scale (including the level of damage and whether or not it could have been more severe, as your team argued in this individual case), the trigger for that behavior (is it avoidable in the average home in the community, so you can make the argument that the animal is indeed safe to place), and we use the Fear Free Sheltering's scale for scoring levels of fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration based on body language and observed behaviors for another objective measure of how the dog is doing (in a particular environment - is a different environment available?).
• That PEM is based on some collected outside works (like the Dunbar bite scale), and similar documents from other communities, so if you were to edit something similar for your organization's use, it may carry some weight with your dog wardens (we don't deal with this, as we are able to make our own euthanasia decisions - it's a different structure in our government).
• Are there ordinanced guidelines for how an owner of a declared dangerous dog must act? In our community, it's muzzle when off the owner's property, a special registration, and stricter leash laws. Perhaps if you can follow those guidelines when adopting a dog to a new home, the dog wardens would be more amenable. If there isn't a gap between "declared dangerous" and "euthanasia," perhaps that's a project for legislative change?
• I think this might be a great subject for the next time you negotiate your County contracts, or an opportunity to edit the Scope of Work for that contract in between negotiation renewals.

Finally, and completely separately, two years of a dog living in a shelter sounds far outside a reasonable length of stay.  I think different organizations deal with long term animals very differently (and I'm definitely not saying that we don't have some very long term residents here). It is hard to imagine many dogs keeping a reasonable quality of life - meaning low daily levels of fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration - for this length of time in a kenneled environment. But with a resident of two years, euthanasia decision conversations for staff and volunteers become much more challenging. Having regular documented measurements of how a dog is doing (we use FASF scoring, but sometimes also quality of life checklists for chronic medical conditions) can help everyone see if a dog is doing better, worse, or maintaining over time, because for individuals he/she knows, they may always seem like their regular happy self. There's two discussions here: (1) how do you keep staff and volunteer morale and emotion in mind when discussing options for long-term animals, and (2) are there policies in place for landmarks in an animal's stay (e.g. 2 weeks = new kennel card description and picture, 4 weeks = foster push, etc.)?

I hope any of that is helpful. It's definitely not an easy topic or easy "fix!"

------------------------------
Emily Wood
Director
Broward County Animal Care
Fort Lauderdale FL
------------------------------

There was a really interesting program about this at the last HSUS conference.

Essentially it looked at a bite as a black mark on the dog, and in many cases similar to what you're talking about, that can be a potential death sentence for a dog who bites, even if that bite is unintentional and non-aggressive.

Their solution was to do everything in the shelter's power to make sure that bite never happens.  This is especially relevant in the case you're describing where you have a dog with a known history of excited activity that can lead to unintentional bites, I.E. you have good data that this could occur and can take extra precautions.  Some of the items suggested were:

Get defensive gear - Have staff wear light gloves and arm guards these don't have to be anything special or suited specifically for animals, but in many jurisdictions a "bite" is qualified as breaking skin.  Having a barrier that can absorb the skin break on a non-aggressive bite, prevents that "bite".  This can either be an all the time thing, or just when working with specific dogs who might have these tendencies.  You can also look at dog specific items like soft muzzles, gentle leaders, harnesses, anything that gives you more control over the dog's actions.

Train staff - For aggressive dogs this is especially important but even for play biters, they have specific cues and body language that they give off when they're getting to worked up, so it's important for your staff to have de-escalation techniques and leash handling.

Limit who the dog can interact with - Especially if you have volunteers, limit the people that interact with the dog to just the ones that have the most expertise, or just staff, or just certain people.  That way the dog is more comfortable with the handlers, knows better what to expect, and the person working with them is trained to deal with play biting behavior.

Get the dog out! - Two years is forever, even in the absolute best shelter, being stuck in the same cages will make anyone go a little wacky.  For cases with energetic or even partially aggressive dogs, if they're deteriorating in the shelter or just visually showing that they need more exercise and stimulation, keeping them in the same environment will just make things worse.  If they're not being adopted, the dog needs to go to foster or get transported out.

To answer your question, our shelter would evaluate the bite based on the circumstances and reasoning.  We would never euthanize a dog just because a bite occurred unless there were aggression or behavioral issues that were clearly related and not resolvable.  That said, for a dog that has been at the shelter for two years because it's "not adoptable" (true or not that could be the perception in court), with a multiple bite history, from an administrative standpoint, that animal is also a huge liability.  If that dog were to accidentally bite a potential adopter in the face or bite a child, the legal issues for your shelter could be very expensive.

So again, the solution is, try not to ever get to the point where you've gotten there.  Train staff, take preventative precautions, limit interaction, have regular pathway planning for animals especially those who have been at the shelter more than 20 or 30 days, figure out a way to get outside resources in if you have an animal that's stuck.

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Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
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Thank you, Jeff. This is helpful!
Yes, 2 years is definitely not what we want but unfortunately, we were unable to find a foster or rescue willing to take him. We are hoping to form more connections to give us more avenues when we get these difficult dogs in the future.

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Karissa Reynolds
Executive Director
Humane Society of the Ohio Valley, Inc.
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-03-2023 11:01 AM
From: Jeff Okazaki
Subject: Dog Bite Policy

There was a really interesting program about this at the last HSUS conference.

Essentially it looked at a bite as a black mark on the dog, and in many cases similar to what you're talking about, that can be a potential death sentence for a dog who bites, even if that bite is unintentional and non-aggressive.

Their solution was to do everything in the shelter's power to make sure that bite never happens.  This is especially relevant in the case you're describing where you have a dog with a known history of excited activity that can lead to unintentional bites, I.E. you have good data that this could occur and can take extra precautions.  Some of the items suggested were:

Get defensive gear - Have staff wear light gloves and arm guards these don't have to be anything special or suited specifically for animals, but in many jurisdictions a "bite" is qualified as breaking skin.  Having a barrier that can absorb the skin break on a non-aggressive bite, prevents that "bite".  This can either be an all the time thing, or just when working with specific dogs who might have these tendencies.  You can also look at dog specific items like soft muzzles, gentle leaders, harnesses, anything that gives you more control over the dog's actions.

Train staff - For aggressive dogs this is especially important but even for play biters, they have specific cues and body language that they give off when they're getting to worked up, so it's important for your staff to have de-escalation techniques and leash handling.

Limit who the dog can interact with - Especially if you have volunteers, limit the people that interact with the dog to just the ones that have the most expertise, or just staff, or just certain people.  That way the dog is more comfortable with the handlers, knows better what to expect, and the person working with them is trained to deal with play biting behavior.

Get the dog out! - Two years is forever, even in the absolute best shelter, being stuck in the same cages will make anyone go a little wacky.  For cases with energetic or even partially aggressive dogs, if they're deteriorating in the shelter or just visually showing that they need more exercise and stimulation, keeping them in the same environment will just make things worse.  If they're not being adopted, the dog needs to go to foster or get transported out.

To answer your question, our shelter would evaluate the bite based on the circumstances and reasoning.  We would never euthanize a dog just because a bite occurred unless there were aggression or behavioral issues that were clearly related and not resolvable.  That said, for a dog that has been at the shelter for two years because it's "not adoptable" (true or not that could be the perception in court), with a multiple bite history, from an administrative standpoint, that animal is also a huge liability.  If that dog were to accidentally bite a potential adopter in the face or bite a child, the legal issues for your shelter could be very expensive.

So again, the solution is, try not to ever get to the point where you've gotten there.  Train staff, take preventative precautions, limit interaction, have regular pathway planning for animals especially those who have been at the shelter more than 20 or 30 days, figure out a way to get outside resources in if you have an animal that's stuck.

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Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
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Great discussion!

For me, whether dogs get several chances depends upon many different factors. You might find this article useful.  The reason behind the bite definitively is something to consider - e.g., was it accidental, was a fearful dog cornered, was the dog defending their territory.   

I think it's important to have a group of people at your organization involved in euthanasia decisions.  I like to include representatives from management, behavior (or animal care if you don't have behavior), veterinary, volunteers, etc.)... it's really valuable to involve multiple different people in decision making which helps the whole team to understand how and why decisions are being made. 

Sheila








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Sheila Segurson, DVM
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
Director of Outreach and Research
Maddie's Fund
Pleasanton CA
9258608284
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HI,

I am with a very large municipal animal shelter, but our policy on adopting out dangerous dogs is similar.  If a person files an affidavit with the courts, a dog may be deemed "dangerous" if it committed an unprovoked act or attack on a person.  There is a hearing to determine the ruling.  Once the court makes that decision it can be appealed, but if whatever the court decides is ultimately what we must do.
On the other hand, an animal's behavior in the shelter (not related to a dangerous dog case) can be handled based on our own in-house policies and procedures.   We do consider the circumstances surround aggressive behavior in the decision of that pet's outcome.  For example, an animal biting out of fear vs. unprovoked/unpredictable aggression.
In either case, I know it is a very difficult thing to have to euthanize an animal you have been caring for for two years.

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Tamara Cook
Interim Project Manager
Harris County Pets - VPH
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Hello all
I'd like to add my cautionary tale as an adopter of a wonderful, intelligent medium mixed breed dog from a shelter with a "bite history". His history as told to me was he only bit a child because children had been taunting him. I didn't have children so I thought I would be fine. He turned on me one day but instead of being fearful I stood my ground. This was 29 years ago so dog behavior training at shelters, rescues and in general were not always available. They have made enormous gains and are completely accessible now both to rescuers and adopters. Fast forward I moved to a rural community to work at a dude ranch before moving to my position we were with friends one day and unprovoked he bit the hand of a friend. I panicked and didn't know what to do. In hearing what had happened family and friends started reach out letting me know when I was not in the room with them and my dog he would become aggressive baring his teeth and growling at them. I had no idea not one person had shared this with me. I went to the local animal shelter to ask for advice and help. Yes by now I'm sure you know where this is going. He was euthanized and to this day I carry that grief in my heart. My caution to all involved in rescue and rehabilitation is first and foremost be transparent with the dogs history and possible training concerns. Second think of the person or family whose lives this dog is going to impact. 
I've gone on to rescue four additional dogs over these 29 years, fostered a couple of dogs and am currently a volunteer with a rural rescue organization.  But Snickers is still with me. 
We don't have a lot of resources in a town of one thousand but we do reach out to other organizations within our state for resources and help. I may not be telling you all anything you don't already know except the perspective of the person who maybe didn't get the whole story on her adopted dog, brought him home and into her heart and ended up doing the unthinkable.