Photo courtesy of Brenda Griffin, DVM Segregate Animal Populations.

Photo courtesy of Brenda Griffin, DVM

Segregate Animal Populations

Segregating populations is a strategy to:

• Contain outbreaks of disease

• Increase safety for animals and people

Why Separate Shelter Populations?

Separate animals by:

• Species

• Health status

• Age

• Physical and behavioral traits

How To Separate Shelter Populations

Quarantine

Minimally, a shelter should

have these housing areas for cats and

for dogs

Healthy Hold

Recommended Housing Areas

Isolation

Adoption

Who is Housed Here:Stray and surrendered healthy animals until they are able to be moved to adoption floor.

If an animal develops signs of illness, immediately move the animal to isolation.

Healthy Hold

Brenda Griffin, DVM

Adoption

Who is Housed Here:Healthy animals available for adoption.

If an animal develops signs of illness, immediately move the animal to isolation.

Brenda Griffin, DVM

Who is Housed Here:Create multiple quarantine areas for animals considered potentially dangerous :

• Animals being observed for rabies

• Animals exposed to infectious disease but not yet clinical during an outbreak situation

Quarantine

Who is Housed Here:Animals who are clinically ill (symptomatic) and infected with a communicable disease.

In an isolation space, the use of barriers and solid walls can lessen the transmission of disease.

Isolation

Additional Housing Areas: Considering Creating These Spaces in Your Shelter

Feral cats can be highly stressed by the amount of activity, light, and noise that are common in animal housing areas.

A place to hide, low light, quiet, and limited activity help reduce stress.

Feral Cats

Young animals in the shelter are at high risk of illness. Minimize stress and disease transmission by designating separate housing areas for:

• Juveniles (5 months and younger)

• Mothers and their babies

Juveniles

Foster care is an excellent alternative for:

• Mothers and their nursing litters

• Animals too young to be adopted

Alternate Housing for Juveniles

Unvaccinated animals should be housed separately from those who have documented vaccination histories and have their cage cards noted.

After vaccination, these animals may be moved to the appropriate housing area.

Unvaccinated Animals

Set up multiple isolation areas to prevent injured animals from getting sick and to prevent sick animals from being exposed to a second disease.

Some agencies may choose to further separate animals:

• By type of illness (or suspected illness)

• Animals who are injured but not otherwise ill

Multiple Isolation Areas

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