# Consequences of abandonment for the welfare of cats and dogs, a scientific expertise of the French Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (FRCAW)

Camille Bezançon, Julia Souyris, Nadia Haddad, Agnès Tiret, Geneviève Aubin-Houzelstein, Caroline Gilbert

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Camille Bezançon, Julia Souyris, Nadia Haddad, Agnès Tiret, Geneviève Aubin-Houzelstein, et al. "Consequences of abandonment for the welfare of cats and dogs, a scientific expertise of the French Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (FRCAW)." 53ème Colloque de la Société Française pour l'Etude du Comportement Animal, May 2024, Albi, France. . hal-04713325

HAL Id: hal-04713325

https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04713325v1

Submitted on 29 Sep 2024

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Consequences of abandonment for the welfare of cats
and dogs, a scientific expertise of the French
Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (FRCAW)

Camille Bezançon*†<fnref n="1" />, Julia Souyris†<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="2" />, Nadia Haddad<fnref n="2" />, Agnès Tiret§<fnref n="1" />, Geneviève Aubin-Houzelstein<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="3" />, and Caroline Gilbert<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="2" />,<fnref n="4" />

Résumé

The fight against animal abandonment is a major societal concern in France. In 2021, the Observatory for the Protection of Domestic Carnivores (OCAD) was implemented in order to generate and communicate knowledge on the protection of dogs and cats and to propose pathways for improving public policy.

The French Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (FRCAW) is the expert body of OCAD. Its primary missions were to carry out an analysis of the current information on dogs and cats abandonment in France, and to: i) propose hypotheses on the causes of abandonment, ii) suggest additional data to be collected and actions to be carried out by OCAD members, and iii) propose hypotheses concerning the consequences of abandonment and the associated risk factors for animal welfare.

Different types of abandonment were identified, each associated with a given set of nega-
tive consequences for the animals. These consequences are linked to the drastic change of
environment and the restricted housing conditions in the shelter and/or pound. They can
be aggravated mainly by particular practices of individual shelters and long stays of the an-
imal in the shelter. However, abandonment can also have positive consequences for animals,
especially when shelters provide them with a more suitable environment.

The FRCAW suggests to i) map the practices employed in French shelters, ii) create a good practice guide for shelters to limit some of the negative consequences experienced by animals held in a shelter, and iii) carry out a risk analysis exercise to validate the hypotheses proposed.

<footnote n="1">¹French Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (FRCAW) – MINISTÈRE DE L'AGRICULTURE ET DE LA SOUVERAINETÉ ALIMENTAIRE – 147 rue de l'Université, 75338 Paris CEDEX 07, France</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²EnvA, National Veterinary School of Alfort – Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et Recherche – 7 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³INRAE CODIR - Collège de Direction, National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) – MINISTÈRE DE L'AGRICULTURE ET DE LA SOUVERAINETÉ ALIMENTAIRE – 147 rue de l'Université, 75338 Paris CEDEX 07, France</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴Laboratory MECADEV, UMR 7179, CNRS/MNHN – Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et Recherche – 1 avenue du Petit Château, 91800, Brunoy, France</footnote>

<footnote>*Intervenant</footnote>

<footnote>†Auteur correspondant: camille.bezancon@inrae.fr</footnote>

<footnote>‡Auteur correspondant: julia.souyris@vet-alfort.fr</footnote>

<footnote>§Auteur correspondant: agnes.tiret@inrae.fr</footnote>
**Mots-Clés:** animal welfare, abandonment, cats, dogs, observatory