Shelter Standards Task Force

The ASV Shelter Guidelines project was initiated by the 2007 Board of Directors.

Resources 

• Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters
• French Translation
• Spanish Translation
  
• ASV Shelter Guidelines Webinar Series
• Shelter Care Checklists: Putting ASV Guidelines into Action

Goals

• Provide shelters and communities a tool for self-assessment and improvement
• Increase consistency of care across US
• Promote highest standards of welfare, for existing facilities as well as new construction
• Provide sound reference material for regulatory purposes when communities look for guidance
• Provide a benchmark for when corrective action is needed
• Create a living document that will be responsive to developments in shelter medicine and animal care
• Establish what is required for a decent quality of life for populations of companion animals
• Dispel notions that high morbidity and mortality from disease and injury is the norm in shelters
• Connect expectations of sanitation, medical care, and mental/behavioral well-being to acceptable sheltering, and dispel any notion that these essentials are frivolous “extras” or cosmetic

Scope and Intention

• Apply to any shelter caring for companion animals
• Written by shelter veterinarians as a tool to help advocate for animal care and well-being more effectively in shelters and communities
• To be equally important for shelter veterinarians, directors, managers, board members, and members of the community
• Emphasize the important contributions of shelter medicine for quality animal care
• Based on the “Five Freedoms”