The purpose of the study was to gather information on perceptions of the current governance practices in shelters in South Africa and put forward recommendations to professionalise the sector at board/committee level. Through semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study sought out the views of 16 participants, both at board/committee and at operational levels, at companion animal shelters. The main findings indicate inconsistencies and flaws in the governance fabric in this sector, and point to the need for a coherent set of basic governance standards suitable for shelters. This study makes a contribution to the companion animal welfare sector by offering the first formal study into governance in this domain, and provides a foundation from which future research can be leveraged.

中文翻译：

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对动物福利部门治理的看法

这项研究的目的是收集有关对南非庇护所当前治理实践的看法的信息，并提出一些建议，以使理事会/委员会一级的部门专业化。通过半结构化访谈，这项定性研究从董事会/委员会和运营级别的陪伴动物收容所中征询了16位参与者的观点。主要发现表明，该部门的治理结构存在矛盾和缺陷，并指出需要一套适用于避难所的连贯的基本治理标准。这项研究通过提供有关该领域治理的第一个正式研究，为同伴动物福利部门做出了贡献，并为将来的研究提供了基础。