Expert Research for Shelters and Rescuers
This page will continue to be updated with new research documents and peer-reviewed publications. Please check back.
Best Friends Research
- No-Kill Shelter Positive Outcome Study
Best Friends analyzed outcome type data for 1,844 no-kill organizations to identify which programs lead to high positive outcomes and establish goals for shelters that will further increase lifesaving. - Adoption Barrier Study
A qualitative study to understand the pet acquisition process, existing barriers (real or perceived) to adoption, and potential solutions to overcome those barriers. - New Normal, New Data
A guide for using data to prove the community-supported sheltering model. - COVID-19 Fostering Survey
Best Friends surveyed 321 foster families and discovered just how much opportunity there is to build on the current fostering momentum.
Peer-reviewed Publications
- A Case Study in Citizen Science: The Effectiveness of a Trap-Neuter-Return Program in a Chicago Neighborhood (Daniel D. Spehar & Peter J. Wolf)
- An Examination of an Iconic Trap-Neuter-Return Program: The Newburyport, Massachusetts Case Study (Daniel D. Spehar & Peter J. Wolf)
- Back to School: An Updated Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Long-Term Trap-Neuter-Return Program on a University’s Free-Roaming Cat Population (Daniel D. Spehar & Peter J. Wolf)
- Integrated Return-To-Field and Targeted Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return Programs Result in Reductions of Feline Intake and Euthanasia at Six Municipal Animal Shelters (Daniel D. Spehar & Peter J. Wolf)
- Managing free-roaming cats in U.S. cities: An object lesson in public policy and citizen action (Peter J. Wolf & Francis Hamilton)
- The Impact of Return-to-Field and Targeted Trap-Neuter-Return on Feline Intake and Euthanasia at a Municipal Animal Shelter in Jefferson County, Kentucky (Daniel D. Spehar & Peter J. Wolf)
- The Impact of an Integrated Program of Return-to-Field and Targeted Trap-Neuter-Return on Feline Intake and Euthanasia at a Municipal Animal Shelter (Daniel D. Spehar & Peter J. Wolf)
- The Road to TNR: Examining Trap-Neuter-Return Through the Lens of Our Evolving Ethics (Peter J. Wolf & Joan E. Schaffner)