Animal Welfare Professionals

The shelter I volunteer with is small with kennels that have both indoor and outdoor access.  We also have a play yard connected to our kennels via a sallyport.   Our policy for dog bites is to quarantine the dog inside their kennel with no handling however interaction can occur outside their kennel gate.  We do not allow the dogs to access our play yard as some are hard to kennel back up resulting in handlers having to interact.    However, we do our best to provide enrichment for them during their time as we know shelter stress with no energy release can affect them both physically and mentally.   Our quarantine hold is 10 days.     My question is, what are other shelters doing for bite quarantines?  Are the dogs handled by specific people or teams and walked or allowed in play yards alone?     What about  level 4 bite situations where the dog was provoked?  Are there different protocols for specific situations?    I would love to learn what others do to minimize stress during bite quarantine periods.  Appreciate any insight.

Thanks.. 

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment

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LeAnn M
Humane Society for Boone County, IN

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We also have a 10 day quarantine. The dog kennels have guillotines down the middle so staff will close that for feeding. Only our behavior staff or supervisors are allowed to go in with the dog or take them out for things like office time. These dogs also get enrichment 3 times a day since they aren't going on walks like the other dogs

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Laurel Nelson
Cat Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society
NE
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Thanks for your info Laurel!  We're trying to determine if we should designate a certain handler to walk or provide play yard time to the quarantined dog or leave it with no hands on interaction but enrichment etc for inside the kennel.    We definitely want to minimize the stress of being housed in the kennel (which has an outdoor run), all day.  I'm finding a number of shelters are also allowing for walks or outside play time but with specific people or person.  

Again, I appreciate your insight!  

LeAnn

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LeAnn Melichar
Lead dog Training Committee
Humane Society for Boone County
IN
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-12-2025 09:29 AM
From: Laurel Nelson
Subject: How do you quarantine a dog that's bitten at a shelter.

We also have a 10 day quarantine. The dog kennels have guillotines down the middle so staff will close that for feeding. Only our behavior staff or supervisors are allowed to go in with the dog or take them out for things like office time. These dogs also get enrichment 3 times a day since they aren't going on walks like the other dogs

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Laurel Nelson
Cat Welfare Supervisor
Nebraska Humane Society
NE
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Hello,

1. This thread has some info on in-kennel enrichment, which is related to this topic: In kennel enrichment for human aggressive court hold dogs | Animal Welfare Professionals
   
   
2. I think it's important to bring up that the principle of post-bite quarantines is contact tracing (EDIT: want to acknowledge that the primary objective is observing that the dog does not show symptoms of rabies, i.e. die, for 10 days.). The likelihood of a biting dog in the US having rabies is low, but IF the dog turned out to be rabid, you want to know every creature that was exposed to it so that they can get PEP. The way rules are written and enforced is different from city to city, but where I worked in animal control, we would advise the owners of biting animals to restrict the biting animal's contact to only the other normal members (human and otherwise) of the household. Biting dogs could still be walked (assuming there wasn't a control issue), but the walks needed to be limited in scope and steer clear of others. We translate this principle to the shelter as well.
   
   
3. I'm not intimately familiar with our shelter operations, but when we have a dog on bite quarantine they are automatically categorized for no handling except by our behavior team. No contact with other animals (which is normal), volunteers or public, or other staff. Depending on the individual dog, the behavior team might take them for walks or just do extra in-kennel enrichment. On a case-by-case basis, the behavior team might also allow other advanced handlers to walk the dog.

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James Pawlowicz
Humane Rescue Alliance
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Thank you James.  Great information! 

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LeAnn Melichar
Lead dog Training Committee
Humane Society for Boone County
IN
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-16-2025 07:42 AM
From: James Pawlowicz
Subject: How do you quarantine a dog that's bitten at a shelter.

Hello,

1. This thread has some info on in-kennel enrichment, which is related to this topic: In kennel enrichment for human aggressive court hold dogs | Animal Welfare Professionals
   
   
2. I think it's important to bring up that the principle of post-bite quarantines is contact tracing (EDIT: want to acknowledge that the primary objective is observing that the dog does not show symptoms of rabies, i.e. die, for 10 days.). The likelihood of a biting dog in the US having rabies is low, but IF the dog turned out to be rabid, you want to know every creature that was exposed to it so that they can get PEP. The way rules are written and enforced is different from city to city, but where I worked in animal control, we would advise the owners of biting animals to restrict the biting animal's contact to only the other normal members (human and otherwise) of the household. Biting dogs could still be walked (assuming there wasn't a control issue), but the walks needed to be limited in scope and steer clear of others. We translate this principle to the shelter as well.
   
   
3. I'm not intimately familiar with our shelter operations, but when we have a dog on bite quarantine they are automatically categorized for no handling except by our behavior team. No contact with other animals (which is normal), volunteers or public, or other staff. Depending on the individual dog, the behavior team might take them for walks or just do extra in-kennel enrichment. On a case-by-case basis, the behavior team might also allow other advanced handlers to walk the dog.

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James Pawlowicz
Humane Rescue Alliance
------------------------------

Hi all , 

If I may share my experience with quarantine animals . 
The purpose to the quarantine is to isolate rabies contact , as the animal will pass away during that hold period if it is rabid. 
depending on certain agency's protocols and I've experienced both sides 

. The no contact no walk keep in kennel protocols and the more flexible move dog around to a yard and give enrichment through out day . 

The important thing here to remember is protection safety and capability , staff should have vaccine for rabies prior to handling in a shelter and volunteers should not have contact with quarantine animals as they doing get rabies vaccines. 
It's important to note that stress from staying in a kennel and no stimulus like enrichment or yard time we risk the mental decline of those animals which can cause more harm. 

However the capacity to care is vital for the main population success if that all takes time away from the majority of animals care then it's not effective or efficient.

Come up with a saftey plan and enrichment  protocol for Quarantine animals and know the facts of the bite and how it happened before planing with each case. 

In example if an animal is dreamed aggressive vs a minor accidental bite. 

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David Diaz
Animal Welfare Specialist
SBCAS
Santa Barbara CA
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Thanks David!

The mental decline is what prompted our shelter to research others about their procedures .   We do provide enrichment thru puzzle feeders, general games with treats or scents in boxes etc .  But we have had some dogs that really need to expend some energy.  I'm hopeful we can move to having designated handlers to walk or provide yard time but also consider the overall bite situation and level.

Thanks again! 

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LeAnn Melichar
Lead dog Training Committee
Humane Society for Boone County
IN
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-16-2025 12:48 PM
From: David Diaz
Subject: How do you quarantine a dog that's bitten at a shelter.

Hi all , 

If I may share my experience with quarantine animals . 
The purpose to the quarantine is to isolate rabies contact , as the animal will pass away during that hold period if it is rabid. 
depending on certain agency's protocols and I've experienced both sides 

. The no contact no walk keep in kennel protocols and the more flexible move dog around to a yard and give enrichment through out day . 

The important thing here to remember is protection safety and capability , staff should have vaccine for rabies prior to handling in a shelter and volunteers should not have contact with quarantine animals as they doing get rabies vaccines. 
It's important to note that stress from staying in a kennel and no stimulus like enrichment or yard time we risk the mental decline of those animals which can cause more harm. 

However the capacity to care is vital for the main population success if that all takes time away from the majority of animals care then it's not effective or efficient.

Come up with a saftey plan and enrichment  protocol for Quarantine animals and know the facts of the bite and how it happened before planing with each case. 

In example if an animal is dreamed aggressive vs a minor accidental bite. 

------------------------------
David Diaz
Animal Welfare Specialist
SBCAS
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Also attached is one example of many mental stimulus ideas for quarantine animals 

This was a puzzle with higher value treats hidden inside . 

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David Diaz
Animal Welfare Specialist
SBCAS
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Thank you!

------------------------------
LeAnn Melichar
Lead dog Training Committee
Humane Society for Boone County
IN
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-16-2025 12:57 PM
From: David Diaz
Subject: How do you quarantine a dog that's bitten at a shelter.

Also attached is one example of many mental stimulus ideas for quarantine animals 

This was a puzzle with higher value treats hidden inside . 

------------------------------
David Diaz
Animal Welfare Specialist
SBCAS
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------