The care provided to animals in the shelter environment involves a myriad of important factors, such as disease incidence, cage size, staff-to-animal ratio, type of food, and many other considerations. Yet, from the animal's point of view, one factor sits atop every other one, and that is quality of life (QOL). In this chapter, QOL is defined as the affective and cognitive assessment that an
... [Show full abstract] animal makes of his or her life overall, of how his life is faring, experienced on a continuum of good to bad. Intuition, however, is not infallible, and one particular area where it has been shown to be flawed is how the impact of emotional and physical suffering on animal QOL is viewed. Emotional suffering comprises all unpleasant, or negative, emotional states. Behavioral responses are one of the most important methods animals use to respond to and adapt to changes, challenges, and threats encountered in life.
