Running head: PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

30 November 2013 Mrs. Krista Soria, Instructor ENGL 212: Technical Writing University of Alaska Anchorage 3211 Providence Dr. Anchorage, AK 99508 Dear Professor Soria, I have completed my study of the feasibility of creating pet boarding facility on the Elmendorf military base for deployed military members in Anchorage Alaska. I thank you for the opportunity to conduct this research and determine the feasibility of this facility. I promised to have the report ready for review by December 12th 2013. I have accomplished this goal and the report is attached. I chose to research pet care for military members because it is an area that I found had room for improvement. I know how important animals can be to their owners and they are close to my own heart. I also have a brother who is a pet owner and now a retired marine. I think pet care is a big concern for military members who face being deployed at any moment. It is an important topic to people in our country because service members protect us and we should do as much for them as possible. This reasoning got me thinking about opening a long term care center in a home like setting. That lead me to the thought that a facility similar to that could feasibly be military funded. My project consisted of two types of research, primary and secondary. My primary research contains 24 answered questionnaires, regarding peoples personal opinion of the feasibility of a facility. I created graphics to organize the data and help you better understand my primary findings. My secondary research consists journal and news articles found through UAAs consortium library. I found multiple articles related to my subject that proved a need for pet care for military members. The questionnaire answers that were received proved a need for boarding facilities. I used this research to come to a conclusion about the feasibility of a facility and how one could come to be. Sincerely, Amy Lacher

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

Pet Care for Deployed Military Members A Feasibility Study Amy Lacher University of Alaska Anchorage ENGL 212 30 November 2013

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

Abstract Thousands of military personal have problems locating places for their pets when they face deployment. Many members who dont have family or close friends nearby end up relinquishing their pets to local shelters. This study was conducted to research the feasibility of having a care center on base for the use of deployed military members. The study includes secondary and primary research. The secondary research includes multiple journal articles and books. The primary research was conducted by distributing a questionnaire to 24 students and then studying and graphing the data. By bringing both sides of the results together I have concluded that a pet boarding facility or care center would only be feasible if it were privately owned, not funded by the military.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

Contents

Abstract3 Introduction..5 Research Methods7 Criteria.8 Results..9 Evidence of Need.9 Existing Organizations...10 Opinion of the Public.10 Figure 1. ....11 Figure 2. 12 Figure 3. ....13 Conclusions14 Recommendations..15 References .16 Appendices.17 Appendix A: Questionnaire...17

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

Introduction Many of our military men and women face tough a decision about when they go on deployment regarding their pet. For some this means holding off on getting a pet until they have a family or until theyre discharged. For some it means finding their pet a new home or if they are lucky boarding it with friends or family. This is an important topic to people in our country because service members protect us and we should do as much for them as possible. Contemplate being a soldier, maybe you dont have family where you are stationed, you come home every night to your best friend, your dog. What if one day your superiors inform you, you are being deployed in a month or possibly even less. You have three choices; getting rid of your pet (taking it to a shelter or finding it a new owner), finding a family member to take in your pet (paying traveling costs for you and your pet), or finding a foster for your pet through a large online organization. It's hard enough for soldiers to head overseas and leave behind their spouses, children, parents, and friends, but saying goodbye to your blue-eyed husky can break a man says young Navy recruit Andrew Chern (Dribben, 2011). As stated by the Dogs on Deployment organization Military members nation-wide confront a multitude of problems during their careers, the last thing they need to worry about is their pet's care during their service commitments. On October 26, 2013 I received approval to conduct a study on the feasibility of a pet care facility for deployed military. The first thing I did was research my topic online through the UAA Consortium Library. The evidence of this problem is all over the internet. I found multiple articles referencing military members being forced to relinquish their pets because of deployment. I discovered multiple online nonprofit organizations

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

who set up foster homes for these military pets. But when I looked into these websites more I realized some negative aspects. I saw that there is a need for smaller on base locations for long term pet care. I think people would be much more comfortable leaving their pet with someone on their base who they have spoken to and can get properly acquainted with their pet before they leave. I believe it would be more feasible to have a privately owned care facility on Elmendorf Air force base, rather than a larger military funded organization.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

Research Methods I created a questionnaire that consisted of 11 questions relating to my topic. The questionnaire included questions relating to military affiliation, pet care, pet ownership and personal opinion of my topic. I distributed the questionnaire to diverse sample group of 25 students. The students are enrolled in Krista Sorias ENGL 212 class. Their ages range from 1845. I reviewed and analyzed the data received from the students. I considered the students responses to decide what the overall perspective of my sample group was. I organized the data into understandable and easily viewed graphics to show my own statistics. To show percentages and proportions I organized the information received into pie charts and bar graphs. I conducted secondary research using UAAs consortium library. I used this library because it provides a lot of information and it is easy to filter your search results. I located and reviewed multiple articles regarding the subject matter. I originally found over 27 thousand results related to my topic. Then I narrowed my results down to 6 useful articles. I conducted research on already existing organizations using multiple search engines and websites. I searched organization websites to evaluate their usefulness by trying to find foster homes in Alaska.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

Criteria Is there a need for more long term military pet care options? Is there a need for pet boarding on our base? Does that need translate into opening a facility? Should it be funded by the military? Should it be a non-profit organization? Should it be a for profit business?

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

Results My research focused on the feasibility of a long term pet care center for deployed military members. I researched the need for such a facility by observing how large the problem is. I examined organizations related to this cause and their offerings. I also got useful data from the questionnaires distributed to my peers.

Evidence of Need I found a couple articles proving a need for a facility where military members can take their pets if they have to deploy. This article suggests that there arent any solid numbers of how many military members are forced to give up their pets but that it is a large problem, There are no statistics on how many deployed military personnel put their animals in shelters, but of the top 10 reasons owners relinquish their pets, moving is at the top of the list. An estimated five million to seven million companion animals enter shelters in the United States every year, according to the ASPCA, and about half of those are euthanized (Dribben, 2011). An article I found in the Tribune News reports Deployments of pet-owning soldiers also have stressed shelters (Cooke, 2008). An article in the Augusta News reads Since the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division deployed 19,000 troops to Iraq in January, animal control officers took in 321 abandoned dogs and cats. Of those, 119 have been euthanized (2005). In this article Dribben quotes For a lot of soldiers, if they deploy, it's going to be for a year, and it's hard to get a friend to watch a dog for that long," said John Gronski, deputy adjutant general for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard "Many are forced to put their pets in shelters, with the potential of the animal being put to death (2011).

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

10

Existing Organizations I have found that there are multiple non-profit organizations where deployed military members can send their pet to a foster. Their services are free but they are usually asked to provide the foster with food. I found that these organizations could be useful depending on what area you live in. When I searched these sites for boarding in Anchorage I only found fosters for cats and dogs, also all fosters had size limits and time restrictions. Sites like Dogs on Deployment show only 3 results for fosters in all of Alaska. This shows that there are multiple problems with the non-profit foster focused organizations.

Opinion of the Public Figure 1 shows that 75% of respondents answered yes when asked: If there were a local in home pet boarding facility (overnight/long term care in someones home) would you consider that option for your pet. This research shows me that the majority of people would consider a boarding facility. Therefor opening a facility on base may be feasible, but could get more business if it were open to more than just owners on deployment.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

11

If there were a local in home pet boarding facility (overnight/long term care in someones home) would you consider that option for your pet?

6 People Said "Yes" Said "No" 18 People

Figure 1. Openness with use of boarding facility. Figure 2 shows how participants answered when asked: If you had a pet and you had to leave on a long trip tomorrow and didn't have family in this state, and couldn't take your pet with you what would you do? The majority of participants, around 35% answered that they would pay to board their dog. The second most popular answer was they would find a friend to board their animal with, 26% of participants agreed. Unfortunately 22% of participants responded that they would take their pet to a shelter.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

12

If you had a pet and you had to leave on a long trip tomorrow and didn't have family in this state, and couldn't take your pet with you what would you do?
10 8

Participants

6 4 2 0 Boarding Facility Friends Shelter Pet Sitter No answer

Answers

Figure 2. Choices for your pets.

Figure 3 shows how participants responded when asked: Do you think the military should offer pet boarding services for deployed members? The majority, 16 out of 23, of participants answered yes. Although five out of 23 participants answered no, it was mostly disagreement of government funding. Also 2 participants answered maybe. Therefor I believe it is feasible to open a pet boarding facility for deployed service members.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

13

Do you think the military should offer pet boarding services for deployed members?

Participants

6 Yes

8 Maybe

10 No

12

14

16

Figure 3. Opinion on military funding.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

14

Conclusions After gathering and analyzing the above data I have been able to draw some conclusions. There is a need for organizations to help deployed military members take care of their pets. The current organizations are not useful for Alaskan service members. There are multiple organizations that match military pets with fosters. Most people believe the military should offer boarding for deployed members pets.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

15

Recommendations I recommend opening a pet boarding center on base in a home like facility. I also recommend that this center be partially non-profit to lower costs to owners. Partially for profit would be an organization that excepts donations and grants so they can charge much lower rates to customers. I recommend more research to be done on funding and running such a facility.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

16

References (2005, April 12). Left behind deployment leads to abandoned pets. The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia). Cooke, M. (2008, May 28). Pets are victims of downsizing. McClatchy Tribune Business News. Dribben, M. (2011, October 23). Volunteers foster pets of deployed troops. McClatchy Tribune Business News. Hayden, M. (2009). 'Pets of Patriots' program ensures care of Soldiers' pets. Soldiers, 64(8), 27. Ray, N. (1990, December 12). Call-up casualties pets become first victims of troop deployment, abandoned by owners. Los Angeles Times (Pre-1997 Fulltext). Ungar, L. (2001, December 31). Foster homes for four-legged friends: Military pets need homes when owners deploy. Navy Times.

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

17

Appendix A: Questionnaire This questionnaire is meant to record your view on pet boarding for deployed military workers. Your answers are confidential and will only be used for research purposes. You were asked to take this survey because you are in ENGL 212 with Professor Soria. If you have any questions please contact Krista Soria at kmbot@uaa.alaska.edu. Thank you for your time and cooperation.

How old are you?

18-29 30-45 46-59 60-74 75+

What is your gender?

Male Female

Are you or have you ever been in the military?

Yes No

Do you have friends or family in the military?

Yes No

Do you have any pets?

Yes No

If you have pet or could have a pet what kind would it be?

Dog

PET CARE FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY

18

Cat Bird Fish

What is your view on pet ownership?

I can't live without my pet; love I could care less about having pets I like pets but they aren't that important to me I don't like animals

If there were a local in home pet boarding facility (overnight/long term care in someones home) would you consider that option for your pet?

Yes No

If you had to board your pet what services would you want to be available to your pet?

Be able to sleep near the caregiver One on one attention Daily walks or play time Free to roam around and not be kenneled all day Socialization with other animals and or people

If you had a pet and you had to leave on a long trip tomorrow and didn't have family in this state, and couldn't take your pet with you what would you do?

Do you think the military should offer pet boarding services for deployed members? If so why?