Animal Sanctuary: The Designer's Guidebook for the Mental Welfare of Rescued Animals

The by-laws protecting animal rights and existing animal shelters, place medical welfare at the forefront of the design of the shelter, meanwhile mental welfare is almost completely neglected. No matter how large a cage, animals can succumb to mental illnesses and depression when faced with monotonous living quarters and no social interaction.How can animal enclosures, such as dog kennels, cages, etc., be re-designed specifically for the rescued animals' mental welfare? How can the architecture be designed not from the point of view of humans, but from the sensorial perception system of the animal, while also keeping in mind the concern for contamination?This thesis will be addressing the basic components to de-stress a newly abandoned animal and propose a spatial design that best accommodates an animal's specific sensorial abilities. By creating design modifications to standard enclosures, a designer's guidebook is produced for those creating an environment suitable for rescued animals.