User:Bruc5373/sandbox

Hayden Bruce

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I plan on adding to an article about the effects that the noise exposure in dog kennels has on the dogs and what can be done to help the situation. These are some of the articles I plan on using...

Coppola, C. L., Enns, R. M., & Grandin, T. (2006). Noise in the animal shelter environment: Building design and the effects of daily noise exposure. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 9(1), 1-7. doi:10.1207/s15327604jaws0901_1end

Scheifele, P., Martin, D., Clark, J. G., Kemper, D., & Wells, J. (2012). Effect of kennel noise on hearing in dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 73(4), 482.

Sales, G., Hubrecht, R., Peyvandi, A., Milligan, S., & Shield, B. (1997). Noise in dog kennelling: Is barking a welfare problem for dogs? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 52(3), 321-329. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(96)01132-X

Protopopova, A., Mehrkam, L. R., Boggess, M. M., & Wynne, C. D. (2014). In-kennel behavior predicts length of stay in shelter dogs. PLoS One, 9(12) doi:http://dx.doi.org.unco.idm.oclc.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114319

While people are often educated on the effects of noise exposure in humans, there are also different noise exposure effects in animals as well. An example of this would be in canines, and the noise exposure levels occurring within kennels. Canines experience this noise exposure whether it be a long stay at an animal shelter, or a weekend stay at a boarding facility. 

Organizations like NIOSH and OSHA have different regulations when it comes to the noise exposure levels in industrial workers.  Currently there are no regulations related to the noise exposure in canines even with such damaging effects related to their health.  Health risks dogs are exposed to include ear damage and behavioral changes. 

The average noise exposure in a kennel is greater than 100 dB SPL.  According to OSHA these levels would yield in the use of hearing protection for the workers of those kennels due to the risk of noise induced hearing loss. The anatomical structures of the human and canine ear are very similar, so it is thought that these levels will negatively impact the hearing of canines in kennels. The ABR can be used to estimate the hearing threshold of canines, and can be used to show either a temporary threshold shift or permanent threshold shift after being exposed to excessive sound levels.  

Behavioral effects to excessive noise exposure include hiding, urinating, defecating, panting, pacing, drooling, disregard to commands, trembling, and barking. These behavioral patterns pose a much greater problem to canines than meets the eye.  All of these behavioral patterns are characteristics that result in a longer stay at the kennels before being adopted. A longer stay at the shelter results in a longer duration of noise exposure and therefore more likely to show either a temporary or permanent threshold shift in the canine’s hearing.

These excessive noise levels are not only harming the canines physical and psychological state, but the workers and potential adoptive families physical and psychological state as well.  The workers psychological state could affect the care provided to the canines.  These loud noise exposures also have the potential to reduce the amount of time that potential adoptive families spend in the facility.  This can result in less dogs being adopted and more time being exposed to excessive sound levels. 

To reduce the level of noise exposure poses a little more difficulty because the majority of the noise is coming from the canines (barking), but structural changes can be made to the facilities in order to reduce the noise.  Structural changes could include how many dogs are put in one area, more absorbing material rather than metal cages and cement walls and floors, and possibly in the future use of hearing protection devices (HPD) for the canines. All of these structural changes would also benefit the humans involved as well as the use of HPD’s (ear plugs).  

**** I just put the articles in parentheses to know where to put a citation when I actually add to the article. I'm also going to link certain words like NIOSH and OSHA