Closing the door on Barriers to adoption Margaret Slater, Ph.D., DVM Senior Director of Veterinary Epidemiology Emily Weiss, Ph.D. CAAB Vice President, Research and Development ASPCA

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Closing the door on Barriers to adoption
Margaret Slater, Ph.D., DVM
Senior Director of Veterinary Epidemiology
Emily Weiss, Ph.D. CAAB
Vice President, Research and Development

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Where we are going
• Volunteers may make better adoption counselors than us
• Impact of adoption fees
• Pets obtained as gifts…are they at high risk?
• Exploration of policy based adoptions vs conversation based adoptions

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Adoption Ambassadors
Fosters as Adoption Agents…
a Louisiana SPCA Innovation

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Adopted through traditional adoption
yes
no
Have you ever adopted a pet from a shelter or
rescue group before?
51.9%
48.1%

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Adopted from Foster as Adoption Agents
Have you ever adopted a pet from a shelter or
rescue group before?
no
yes
30.3%
69.7%

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Adopted through traditional adoption
How did you learn that the dog you most recently
adopted was available for adoption?
33.3%
Website
7.4% Other
59.3%
Visited the shelter

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Adopted from Foster as Adoption Agents
How did you learn that the dog you most recently
adopted was available for adoption?
24.2%
Website
18.2%
9.1% Other
24.2% Saw dog “out” wearing
“adopt me” vest
Visited shelter 9.1%
15.2%
Friend told me
Saw dog at offsite
adoption event

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Figure 2. Density maps of adopter addresses in Charleston, SC.
Mohan-Gibbons H, Weiss E, Garrison L, Allison M (2014) Evaluation of a Novel Dog Adoption Program in Two US Communities.
PLoS ONE 9(3): e91959. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091959
http://127.0.0.1:8081/plosone/article?id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0091959

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Returns are significantly lower for Adoption Ambassador dogs
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Returns
AA
Shelter

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What if they are free? Our Research

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FREE CATS

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Fee-waived cat study in Canada
Fee-waived
and not fee-
waived cats at
same events
Followed
up 3
months
later
Standard
survey to
all

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Fee-waived adopters in Canada
Adopted
adult cats
Could afford
regular fee
but preferred
free
Heard about
number of
cats needing
homes
More likely
to adopt
second fee-
waived cat
87% of fee-
waived adopters
drawn to cat due
to time cat in
shelter
> 2x as many fee-
waived adopters
made an extra
donation vs non-
fee waived
Why fee-waived?

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Fee-waived and non-fee waived
adopters cared for their cats!

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0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
free vet check no free checkup
Did you use the free veterinary check up?
Fee waived
Non-fee waived

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0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
still have cat don't have cat
Do you still have the cat?
Fee-waived
Non-fee waved

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Let’s give pets as a gifts

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What the Data Tells us…
•Dogs obtained as gifts are less likely to be
relinquished than dogs obtained from a
shelter, a friend, as a stray or from a pet
shop. (New et al, 2000)
•Cats obtained as gifts are less likely to be
relinquished than those that are obtained
from a shelter, a friend, as a stray or from a
pet shop. (New et al, 2000)

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•Pets are rarely relinquished because they
are a unwanted gift (Scarlett, 1999)
• Dogs received as gifts are significantly
less at risk for relinquishment compared to
those that were purchased or adopted
(Patronek, 1996)

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Did receiving a pet as a gift increase, decrease
or have no impact on your love or attachment
to the pet?
36%
3%
60%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
No Impact
Decreased
Increased

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Were you involved in the selection
process of the pet that you received as
a gift?
34%
60%
6%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Yes
No, I was ok with the surprise
No, but I wish I were involved

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What we found
No significant relationship between receiving a dog
or cat as a gift, whether a surprise or not, and the
receivers reported love or attachment for the pet

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Is that pet still with you?
74%
12%
13%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Yes
No, pet passed away
No, pet is no longer with me

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No significant relationship between receiving a dog
or cat as a gift as a surprise or not and whether the
pet was still living in the home

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What about Dogs and Cats under the Tree?

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What Happens when Policies are Removed and
Replaced with Dialogue?

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Attachment

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ID Tag

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Where he sleeps

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Going to the vet

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Declaw

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Resident dog issues

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Publications
•Gibbons, H., Weiss, E., Garrison, L., Allison, M. (2014) Evaluation
of a novel dog adoption program in two US communities . Plos1
•Weiss E. Gramann, S (2009). A comparison of attachment levels
of adopters of cats – fee based adoptions vs. free adoptions.
Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science Vol 4.
•Weiss, E., Dolan, E., Garrison, L., Hong, J., Slater, M., (2013).
Should dogs and cats be given as gifts? Animals. Volume 3(4)
995-1101.
• Weiss, E., Gramann, S., Dolan, E., Scotto, J., Slater M., (2014).
Do policy based adoptions increase the care a pet receives? An
exploration of a shift to conversation based adoption at one
shelter. Open Journal of Animal Sciences.

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