Prevalencia de alteraciones comportamentales en perros de un refugio de la ciudad de Cuenca como indicador de bienestar animal

Abstract

For the present study, 167 dogs were evaluated from a shelter in the city of Cuenca, using a clinical-behavioral test based upon the Cornell University Modified asses a pet, which includes a general clinical examination to differentiate if a behavioral change corresponds to a physical illness. The test constituted a basis for the clinical diagnosis of the behavioral alterations. With the test, the 167 dogs selected at random from a database facilitated by the refuge administration were evaluated, which should have more than three months to adapt to the refuge conditions, in addition to collecting individual sex information (whole female, castrated female, whole male or gelding male), age (3-12, 13-24 and ≥25 months), size (small, medium, large) and the time they have remained in the refuge (3-12, 13- 24 and ≥25 months). The data were analyzed with the statistical program SAS, which determined with a confidence interval of 95%, that, of the 167 dogs, 65 of them (39.63%; 95% CI 32- 47%) had behavioral disorders, of which 31 (47, 69%; CI 36-60%) presented fear and phobias, 19 (29.23%; 95% CI 20-41%) aggressiveness, 6 (9.23%; 95% CI 4-19%) generalized anxiety, 2 (3.08%; CI 1-11%) stereotypies, 7 miscellaneous (hyperactivity) 10.77% (95% CI 5-21%) and none presented destructiveness. Three of the dogs evaluated were removed from the study because their behavioral change was due to a systemic disease. The exact Fisher test was also performed to analyze the influence between the presentation of behavioral alterations, with the age, sex, size and time of the dogs' stay in the refuge, which was not demonstrated because there was no significance. The presence of behavioral alterations indicates affectation of the liberties of the animals, so it is considered that the animals that presented them, have compromised their welfare, being the presence of alterations an indication of the same.