Social welfare implications of policy reform for dog shelters in the United Kingdom

Statistics suggest that the policies currently in place to manage free-roaming dog numbers in the United Kingdom have met with limited success, and more innovative alternatives should be considered. This paper explores potential policy reform options that could reduce welfare losses associated with free-roaming dog management with the aid of a dynamic systems model that describes subpopulations of owned dogs, shelter dogs, and dogs held by breeders. Using this model, we simulate the population effects over time of a range of hypothetical governmental policies, including taxes, subsidies and a representation of a new Greek policy which features a national dog DNA database. We then evaluate the impact of policy alternatives on social welfare by comparing each to a base case reflecting the current situation. Our results suggest that implementation of the new Greek policy delivers a clear social welfare benefit compared with the other policies, but our results were sensitive to the social welfare implications of euthanising shelter animals and the stress animals undergo while in shelter facilities.