Abstract
Shelter dogs are exposed to a variety of stressors. Among non-invasive techniques, hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is suggested an easy to collect biomarker for giving insight into long-term stress responses. We evaluated HCC as an indicator of long-term cortisol responses in dogs in an animal shelter over different chronological time points during sheltering and after adoption. Hair samples were collected from the neck region following a shave/re-shave protocol of shelter dogs (total n = 52) at four different time periods: T1 intake at shelter (pre-shelter period, n = 51); T2 after 6 weeks in the shelter (n = 23); T3 6 weeks after adoption (n = 24); T4 6 months after adoption (n = 22). HCC at T2 was significantly higher than HCC at T1, T3 and T4 (effect of sample collection moment: F 3,41 = 12.78, p < 0.0001). The dog's weight class, age class, sex, reason for admission, kennel history and melanin type also explained HCC variability. No significant difference in HCC was found between shelter dogs T1 and control pet dogs in their own homes (n = 20, one sample, t = - 1.24, p = 0.219). A significant but moderate positive correlation between HCC and urinary cortisol:creatinine ratios was found (т = 0.3, p < 0.001). As HCC increased in the shelter, the use of this non-invasive parameter appears a useful additional tool in dog welfare research.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 5117 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to thank Xandra van Staveren and Susanne Kirchhoff for their help with the laboratory analysis of the hair samples. We are also very grateful for the help of the employees of Animal Shelter DOA with collecting the data. We would also like to thank all owners of the adopted shelter dogs and of dogs in the control group. We thank the Dr. J.L. Dobberke Foundation for Comparative Psychology for funding the ELISA kits to analyse cortisol in the hair samples (grand number UPS/BP/4139 2016-16).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
Keywords
- Animal Welfare
- Animals
- Creatinine
- Dogs
- Hair
- Housing, Animal
- Hydrocortisone/urine