Breed Group Effects on Complaints about Canine Welfare Made to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Queensland, Australia

Simple Summary This retrospective study involves 107,597 dog welfare complaints received by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Queensland from 2008 to 2018. Results show that, compared to pure breed dogs, cross-breed dogs were more likely to be reported in welfare complaints. Poisoning, lack of veterinary support, abuse, and being left unattended in a hot vehicle were common complaints in pure breed dogs; while insufficient shelter, exercise and food/water, as well as overcrowding and abandonment, were more commonly reported in cross breed dogs. Utility breeds, terriers and working dogs were most likely to be reported, while toy, non-sporting breeds and gundogs were least likely to be reported. Common complaint types for utility dogs were: insufficient food/water, shelter and exercise, and poor living conditions; for terriers: abandonment, intentional abuses and killing or injuring another animal; for working dogs: insufficient food/water, shelter and exercise; for toy dogs: lack of veterinary care, overcrowding and staying in a hot vehicle alone; for non-sporting dogs: lack of veterinary care, being left in a hot vehicle unattended and poor body conditions; and for hounds: killing or injuring another animal, intentional abuses and poor body conditions. Abstract Cruelty- and neglect-related canine welfare concerns are important welfare and social issues. Dog breed has been identified as a risk factor for bad welfare, and yet its role in different types of canine welfare concerns has not been fully investigated. We conducted a retrospective study of 107,597 dog welfare complaints received by RSPCA Queensland from July 2008 to June 2018. The breed of the dog involved in the incident was either recorded as stated by the complainant or by the inspector attending the case. Dog breed was divided into groups following the Australian National Kennel Club nomenclature. Dogs of a non-recognised breed were more likely to be reported in welfare complaints than recognised breed dogs. Recognised breed dogs had a greater risk of being reported with poisoning, lack of veterinary support, abuse and being left unattended in a hot vehicle; while non-recognised breed dogs had greater risk of being reported with insufficient shelter, exercise and food/water, as well as overcrowding and abandonment. Utility breeds, terriers and working dogs were most likely to be reported, while toy, non-sporting breeds and gundogs were least likely to be reported. Common complaint types for utility dogs were: insufficient food/water, shelter and exercise, and poor living conditions; for terriers: abandonment, intentional abuses and killing or injuring another animal; for working dogs: insufficient food/water, shelter and exercise; for toy dogs: lack of veterinary care, overcrowding and staying in a hot vehicle alone; for non-sporting dogs: lack of veterinary care, being left in a hot vehicle unattended and poor body conditions; and for hounds: killing or injuring another animal, intentional abuses and poor body conditions. Breed groups rather than breeds may be the best method of breed identification in a public reporting system as they group similar breeds together, and as our research shows, they relate to types of animal welfare complaints. Understanding the relationship between breed group and canine welfare complaints may help authorities improve public education programs and inform decision-making around which breed a new owner should choose.

chase prone and aggressive; however, dogs identified as toy breeds are seen as sociable [25]. Current breed identification in the majority of facilities is based on observation, but such visual identification of breed is problematic and often inaccurate [22,26]. In a laboratory-based experiment, 986 people engaged in dog-related professions were asked to visually identify the breed of 20 dogs using video clips. The visual identification was later compared with DNA identification. The results showed that over 50% of participants failed to visually identify dog breeds that matched the DNA identification, and agreement by over 50% of participants was only found with 35% (n = 7/20) of dogs [22]. Another study exploring inter-observer agreement among shelter staff differentiating pit-bull-type dogs versus non-pit-bull-type dog revealed moderate reliability (76%-83%) [26]. Consequently, a better breed identification method is needed, and identifying dogs per group or type (e.g., pit-bull type), rather than by specific breed, may result in higher agreement among individuals and be more useful.
In Queensland, Australia, animals are protected by the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 (ACPA) [2]. This state-based legislation appoints inspectors, some of whom are employed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Queensland (RSPCA Qld), to investigate potential breaches of, and enforce compliance with, the Act [2]. There are two main offences under the ACPA: failure to fulfil duty of care responsibilities and cruelty. There are a number of other specified offences. The Act recognises that a person who has charge of an animal owes that animal a duty of care. Failure to provide such care is the basis of the "breach of duty of care" offence. This offence covers such actions as not providing sufficient food, water, exercise, veterinary care and suitable living conditions. It is not only the owner that has a duty of care towards an animal. Anyone who is even temporarily in charge of an animal has a duty of care. The second major offence is "animal cruelty" and according to Section 18 of the Act, cruelty describes any action that causes unjustifiable and unnecessary physical and mental discomfort to animals, inappropriate confinement or transport, unreasonable injuries and inhumane death [2]. A cruel act can be committed by anyone towards an animal, whether it is their own animal, another domestic animal or even a wild animal [2]. It is important to note, that under the ACPA, the intention of a person to be cruel is not a necessary element of a cruelty offence to be proven in Queensland. If an action carried out by a person causes pain and suffering and the action was intentional, the person may be charged with cruelty. The intention to carry out the action must be proved but not the intention to be cruel. If a lack of action deprives an animal of its fundamental needs, then the person who has a duty of care towards the animal may be charged with a breach of their duty of care or cruelty depending on the circumstances. Intention may be considered during sentencing however [2]. Other offences under the Act include unreasonable abandonment or release, the carrying out of prohibited surgical procedures (e.g., tail docking, ear cropping, debarking, etc.), being involved in, or having items used for, a prohibited event, such as dog or cock fighting, and allowing an animal to injure or kill another animal [2].
The public can report suspected welfare concerns to the RSPCA via a "Cruelty Complaints" telephone number, which operates 24 h a day, seven days a week, or by email. In addition, complaints can be made by veterinarians and veterinary nurses, council officers, and other government and non-government employees visiting a location as part of their duties. Finally, animals entering a shelter may trigger an investigation if cruelty or neglect is suspected.
In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether breed was an important factor in relation to canine welfare concerns. This report is the second in a series relating to the analysis of RSPCA Qld canine welfare complaint data [21,27]. We hypothesized that certain breeds would have a higher risk of being reported. We also hypothesized that some breeds would be at higher risk of suffering specific welfare issues than others. Other risk factors, age of the dog [21] and socioeconomic status of the complainant are the subject of other papers [21,27].

Materials and Methods
From July 2008 to June 2018, RSPCA Qld received 129,036 canine welfare complaints. Some involving more than one dog were recorded as multiple complaints sharing the same case number, while others were recorded as one complaint with multiple animals. To avoid sample bias due to multiple entries, we only retained the first complaint of case numbers with multiple entries, discarding 21,439 entries as a result. There remained 107,597 canine welfare complaints for this retrospective study. The data analysis was originally undertaken on the entire dataset and then redone with the reduced number. Finding the complaint distribution and demographics to be similar, we opted for the reduced dataset to avoid problems with pseudoreplication. Animal welfare complaints that fell within the geographical zone of responsibility of RSPCA Qld (determined by a Memorandum of Understanding between RSPCA Qld and Biosecurity Queensland, the Government Department tasked with the administration of ACPA) were investigated by RSPCA Qld inspectors. All other complaints were referred to Biosecurity Queensland to be investigated by their inspectors. However, all complaints coming into RSPCA Qld were included in this analysis.
All complaints were recorded in ShelterBuddy ® (RSPCA, Queensland, Australia), the RSPCA Qld database. The following information was requested from the reporter of each incident at the time of taking the complaint: the number of dogs involved and their age, breed(s) (if known), the "complaint code(s)", the suburb, postcode, and in addition, the date was recorded. All cases were investigated either by RSPCA Qld inspectors (n = 100,432) or Biosecurity Qld inspectors (n = 7165). It is recognized that some of the calls did not relate to a breach of the ACPA or to a genuine welfare concern. The outcome data for these complaints was not analysed in this research. This research is focused on the complaint calls coming in to RSPCA Qld.
Dogs were classified according to two broad age ranges, being dog and puppy, based on reporters' interpretation. It is important to recognise that the information recorded from the complainant may be inaccurate or inaccurately interpreted, e.g., a small dog is commonly referred to as a puppy in Queensland. Records regarding breed and the number of dogs involved were based on either complainants' initial reports or comments from trained inspectors, again recognising inaccuracies with identification of the breed. The "complaint code" was selected by the staff member receiving the call or email from a drop-down menu of 18 possible complaints (Appendix Table A1) [21]. Multiple "complaint codes" were able to be selected for each case according to the description of what was alleged to have happened to the dog(s), and each was treated as a separate code for analysis.

Dog Breeds
The distribution of breeds was compared to the breeds of registered dogs obtained from the councils of two cities situated close to the RSPCA Qld headquarters, namely Ipswich City Council and Gold Coast City Council for the same period. Any breed in our data that was documented in any of the following kennel clubs-Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC) [7], New Zealand Kennel Club (NZKC) [28], American Kennel Club (AMKC) [29] and United Kennel Club (UKC) [30]-was considered a recognised breed (RB) and was added to our breed list (Appendix Table A2). Any breed in our data that was not recognised by at least one of the major kennel clubs listed above was classified as a non-recognised breed (N-RB), including all crossbred dogs without any identified breed. In our dataset, it was decided that if more than one dominant breed was listed, the first breed mentioned would be used. For instance, Great Dane × Bull Arab was categorized as Great Dane (Appendix Table A2).
To achieve a secondary representation of breed recognition, RB breeds were amalgamated into the following seven breed groups based on the breed inclusion categories of the ANKC: toys, terriers, gundogs, hounds, working dogs, utility, and non-sporting. Breeds not listed by the ANKC, but recognised by the NZKC, AMKC, or UKC, were categorized into one of the seven groups based on the description of each kennel club. Some breeds (e.g., Australian Koolie and Bull Arab), though listed by the council registrations and thus on the breed list (Appendix Table A2), were not recognized as breeds by any major kennel club worldwide. Therefore, these breeds were categorized as N-RB. If the breed description was left blank, the dogs' breed was considered unknown (n = 15,576/107,597), and these complaints were excluded from any data analysis related to breed factors.

Statistical Analysis
Data was analysed using the statistical package Minitab ® 17.3.1. (Minitab, LLC., State College, PA, USA) Descriptive analysis was first used to investigate the distribution of RB/N-RB and the seven breed groups. Complaints reported in July 2017 and June 2018 that contained breed information provided by RSPCA inspectors (n = 95) were used to examine the agreement of breed identification between the complainant and inspectors. Apart from simple percent agreement measurements, Cohen's kappa coefficient was calculated. Cohen's kappa is a statistical method measuring agreement with qualitative assessments among different raters. It is more robust than a percentage because it considers the possibility of the agreement occurring by chance [26,31]. To examine whether RB, N-RB or certain breed groups were more likely to be reported, the study group was compared with the registration data from Gold Coast and Ipswich City councils where all owned dogs, including working dogs on farms, are required to be registered [32,33]; this was done using Pearson chi-square tests. Eighteen stepwise forward binary logistic regression models were constructed to understand how breed factors correlated with each complaint code. The binary logistic regression model is a nonlinear model using a logistic function to describe the relationship of independent variables and a dependent variable with two possible values, such as yes/no, 0/1, or healthy/sick [34]. The stepwise forward selection refers to a step-by-step method of adding the most significant dependent variable into the model [35].
To determine the effect of breed (RB/N-RB or breed group) on complaint codes, breed (RB/N-RB or breed group) was entered into the binary logistic regression model as a fixed factor, using logit models with the alpha value to enter being 0.15. Complaint codes were entered into the model as outcomes. Separate models were constructed for each complaint code with the same input variable.

Predispositions of RB/N-RB to Welfare Complaints
We further explored the association between RB/N-RB and different complaint codes. A logistic regression model was generated (Table 3). In the model, there were significant correlations between RB/N-RB and nine (n = 9/18) complaint codes. RB had significantly greater risk of being reported with the following complaint codes, listed in increasing order of odds ratio (OR): baiting/poisoning (OR = 0.36, p < 0.001), no treatment (OR = 0.59, p < 0.001), cruelty (OR = 0.95, p = 0.004), and hot animal in car (OR = 0.95, p = 0.043). Meanwhile, N-RB had significantly greater risks of experiencing the following complaint codes, listed in declining order of odds ratio (OR): no exercise/confined/tethered (OR = 1.32, p < 0.001), overcrowding (OR = 1.32, p < 0.001), abandonment (OR = 1.25, p < 0.001), no shelter (OR = 1.19, p < 0.001), and insufficient food and/or water (OR = 1.08, p < 0.001). Table 3. Odds ratio of each variable in the logistic regression model of complaint codes. The outputs of these models were different complaint codes. The input variables were N-RB/RB and breed groups. a Odds ratio refers to N-RB relative to RB; b Odds ratio and the 95% confidence interval (CI) of each breed group for every complaint code are presented in Table 4; c Breed factor (N-RB/RB or breed group) was not selected in the logistic regression model; d A person was reported to have abused an animal.

Predispositions of Breed Groups to Welfare Complaints
When we compared the numbers of different breed groups in our data with the councils' data (Table 2), the following breed groups were over-represented in our data, listed in declining order of overrepresentation coefficient (p < 0.001): utility, working dogs and terriers. The following breeds in our database listed in increasing order of overrepresentation coefficient were underrepresented (p < 0.001): toys, non-sporting and gundogs.
In the regression model (Table 3), twelve (n = 12/18) complaint codes were predicted by breed group. Detailed results related to breed groups are summarized in Table 4. Toy dogs were more likely to be the subject of: no treatment, hot animal in car and overcrowding; terriers to: abandonment, cruelty, and knowingly allow an animal to kill/injure another; utility dogs to: insufficient food and/or water, no shelter, no exercise/confined/tethered and poor living condition; non-sporting dogs to: no treatment, hot animal in car and poor dog condition; hounds to: knowingly allow an animal to kill/injure another, cruelty and poor dog condition; and working dogs to: no exercise/confined/tethered, no shelter and insufficient food and/or water. The first number is the odds ratio, and the two numbers in the brackets are the CI. Bold: the odds ratio (CI) was marked as statistically significant (p < 0.05) when the CI did not cover 1.00. a A person was reported to have abused an animal.

Breed Identification
The agreement of breed recognition between the general public and RSPCA inspectors was very low, which is in line with a previous study demonstrating inconsistent breed identification [22]. In light of the inconsistency, instead of assigning a breed for each dog, a potential alternative is to group them by function or more general characteristics into a recognised breed group [36]. Various kennel clubs have adopted similar concepts in their breed group criteria. For instance, in the ANKC, dogs that are originally bred to work with livestock are classified as working dogs, and those developed to assist hunters in retrieving game are classified as gundogs [7]. In this study, breed information provided by the general public and RSPCA inspectors was used to categorise dogs into ANKC breed groups. Consequently, the agreement increased from 23.2% to 77.8%, with substantial reliability (Cohen's Kappa = 0.69) between the public and trained inspectors. This result suggests that both the general public and inspectors are able to recognize some important and obvious characteristics of the dogs. Hence breed groups, rather than breeds, may be a better and more practical way of classifying breed for shelter research.

RB versus N-RB
This study examined the relationship between breed and canine welfare complaints. Specifically, we examined RB/N-RB and different breed groups with respect to their predisposition to be reported for welfare problems. We found there was a greater proportion of RB in the councils' data compared with RSPCA's, which might reflect a low rate of registration of N-RB, mainly crossbred dogs, in the two Queensland regions or that RB dogs were less likely to be involved in poor welfare or cruelty. These findings are supported by a previous study showing that crossbred dogs are at a higher risk of non-accidental injuries as a result of physical abuses, such as beating, throwing and burning, than pure bred dogs [37]. A further analysis of different complaint codes revealed that RB were predisposed to complaints related to "gaming", where owners allowed these dogs to engage in racing, fighting and blood sports. The number of dog fight cases was relatively small [21], so we should interpret them cautiously, although it is likely that dog fighting occurs more frequently than is reported. Credible and actionable evidence of such events is rarely received. One surprising finding was RB dogs were reported more often than N-RB for not receiving adequate veterinary care. Previous research into pet ownership and attitudes to pet care found that owners of shelter-acquired pets, usually mixed breed [38], took their animals for veterinary care more often and were equally willing to spend over $1000 on medical treatment for their pets [39] than pets acquired by other means. Finally, our data suggest that many N-RB dogs are not registered, which may make them more likely to be surrendered to a shelter or abandoned when medical care is required. Previous studies have reported higher rates of surrender of N-RB dogs [38]. N-RB dogs were more likely to be involved in complaints related to husbandry practices and abandonment.

Breed Groups
RB dogs were divided into breed groups and strong correlations between the groups, characteristics of the breeds and reasons for being reported were observed. For instance, toy dogs are small and possibly travel with owners more often, and thus, as found in our study, were more likely to be left alone in a car in hot weather. Previous research reports that smaller breeds of dogs are popular in Australia [40], which might help explain the number of complaints about toy dogs being left unattended in hot vehicles, as reported previously [21]. However, increased awareness of the dangers for dogs in hot cars through regular campaigning on this issue may also explain the high number of reports received [41]. Many terriers, especially those with some pit bull type characteristics (e.g., Staffordshire bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, and pit bull terrier), are considered aggressive and dangerous [15], therefore would be predisposed to being reported for abandonment, dog fights and cruelty [17,19,37,42]. Finally, utility and working dogs are mostly bred for guarding, rescuing or herding functions [7], and are generally energetic and require exercise [43,44]. These breeds were reported for not receiving adequate exercise. In contrast, toy breeds were the least likely to be reported for insufficient exercise, which is in agreement with previous research that found that smaller dogs were likely to have their exercise needs met even though they were walked less frequently [45].

Practical Application
This study provides fundamental information about the relationship between breed groups and various types of welfare complaints in dogs. The information can be used to develop education campaigns to increase awareness of what is involved in adequately and appropriately caring for dogs. Specific breeds have specific needs with respect to, for example, exercise requirements and cognitive enrichment to ensure their welfare is good. Information could be made available to prospective new owners of specific breeds to improve their understanding of the breed and its care requirements. Such information could also inform decision-making around breed choice as requirements of the breed could be matched with the ability of the owner to provide these needs.

Limitations and Need for Future Research
This was the first study providing fundamental information of the relationship between dog breed and welfare complaints made to a welfare organization with the responsibility of administering the Animal Welfare Act. Future research could focus on common breeds and explore the welfare issues in more detail.
There were several limitations of this present study. First, N-RB dogs contributed 32.7% of our dataset but only 1.7% of the total population in the councils' data. This major difference might indicate that N-RB dogs were indeed more susceptible to animal welfare concerns, but might also be affected by: (1) the difficulty of breed recognition [22], (2) the potentially different criteria of breed classification in our data and the councils' data and (3) the possibly lower registration rate of N-RB. Second, complaint codes were made based on public reports, which are likely to be inaccurate, at least in some cases. Third, we compared our data with reference data from the Gold Coast and Ipswich City Councils, urban areas in South East Queensland. The RSPCA cases were collected from a broad geographical area including both urban and rural areas, which may cause some regional bias. There were only 0.76% (n = 814/107,597) of cases from the Gold Coast and Ipswich regions. If we only compare the cases in these two regions, our results may be skewed by some less-common breeds that are either reported in our data or the councils' registration. Our data cover the Queensland regions along the East Australian seashore, which are nearly identical to the previous research [46]. Therefore, we decided to use similar methods by comparing our entire data with the councils' data. Given these limitations, the data reported here included canine welfare complaints only in Queensland, and national or global generalization should be made with caution.

Conclusions
Dog identification classified on the basis of breed groups rather than specific breed had a higher agreement between the public and shelter staff, and thus may serve as a better method of describing dogs involved in welfare reports. N-RB dogs, mainly crossbred dogs, were significantly more likely to be reported for alleged animal welfare concerns, especially poor living conditions and abandonment than RB. In addition, the characteristics of specific breeds, such as size, physical traits and exercise demands, were correlated to the reported complaints. Our results can help to improve public education and awareness raising. Finally, future studies are encouraged to explore in more detail the relationships between breed and welfare issues in dogs.