Shelter Management & Rehabilitation Flashcards
7 cards from real ARC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Shelter Management & Rehabilitation flashcards as text
A shelter's population of rabbits suddenly shows multiple animals with head tilt, loss of balance, and rolling. The MOST likely cause is:
Answer: Encephalitozoon cuniculi (E. cuniculi) or ear infection requiring veterinary assessment
Sudden head tilt and loss of balance in multiple shelter rabbits strongly suggests E. cuniculi infection or inner ear disease, both requiring prompt veterinary diagnosis and treatment.
What is the purpose of a 'behavior triage' system at a shelter intake?
Answer: Quickly assess an animal's behavioral needs to guide housing, handling, and enrichment decisions
Behavior triage at intake quickly identifies animals needing special handling, enrichment, or behavior modification support, improving welfare and adoption outcomes.
A shelter dog repeatedly breaks out of its kennel. Before labeling this an 'escape behavior,' staff should FIRST investigate:
Answer: Potential stressors such as noise triggers, adjacent aggressive animals, or inadequate exercise
Escape behavior is often a response to environmental stressors; addressing root causes like noise, aggressive neighbors, or under-stimulation is the ethical first step.
Which of the following is an example of a 'population-level' disease prevention strategy in a shelter?
Answer: Implementing a core vaccine protocol for all incoming animals at intake
Vaccinating all incoming animals at intake is a population-level strategy that reduces overall disease burden across the entire shelter population.
When rehabilitating a dog with resource guarding, the MOST evidence-based first step is to:
Answer: Use 'trade up' exercises where the dog exchanges a guarded item for a higher-value reward
Trade-up exercises teach the dog that a human approaching means something better is coming, reducing the need to guard through positive reinforcement.
In shelter medicine, 'URI' most commonly refers to:
Answer: Upper Respiratory Infection
URI (Upper Respiratory Infection) is one of the most common and contagious diseases in shelter cat populations, requiring prompt isolation and treatment protocols.
A rescue organization's rehabilitation program for severely neglected horses should begin with which priority?
Answer: Controlled refeeding with veterinary supervision to prevent refeeding syndrome
Severely malnourished horses are at risk of fatal refeeding syndrome if caloric intake is increased too rapidly; a veterinary-supervised slow refeeding protocol is essential.