New Shelter Model Seeks to Reduce Stress in Shelter Dogs

My husband and I adopted our Lab mix, Rio, from an underfunded shelter in New Mexico in 2010. It was our first time visiting the facility, and the housing conditions depressed us: a few litters of puppies were crammed into chain-link cages, and adult dogs were kept alone in each small enclosure. It didn’t seem like a fun way to live. We stopped and said hello to each dog, fervently wishing we could adopt them all. So I was excited to hear about a new shelter model that could potentially reduce fear, stress, and anxiety for dogs in animal shelters while they wait for their forever homes. The traditional design has been a series of kennels with glass or chain-link doors, with one dog per kennel. Animal Humane Society, a nonprofit animal shelter with four locations in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, hopes to change that. The organization recently invested approximately $250,000 to design and build a habitat prototype at its Golden Valley location.