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Exploring the Bond

Factors associated with the decision to surrender
a pet to an animal shelter
Deborah D. Miller, MA; Sara R. Staats, PhD; Christie Partlo, BS; Kelly Rada, BS

M illions of companion animals are euthanatized in Materials and Methods

the United States every year because they have This study was conducted in collaboration with The
been surrendered by their owners.' Many factors may Ohio State University and was approved by the Human Sub-
jects Committee. Questionnaires were distributed between
influence whether a companion animal gets and keeps October 1993 and January 1994 to people who were releas-
an owner. When a relationship between a person and ing their dogs or cats to our humane society. The society
an animal companion does not develop or is truncated, accepts owner-released dogs and cats (pets that have a his-
the pet is often removed from the home. According to tory of living with a family and of receiving veterinary care)
Arkow,? as many as hall of the companion animals and stray cats. The questionnaires were distributed by shelter
euthanatized in the United States each year formerly personnel as time allowed, and by 2 intern students from
had an owner. area colleges on weekends in 2- to 4-hour blocks.
Why such animals are surrendered and what can Participation in the study was voluntary, but personnel
be done to prevent this problem are important and and interns reported that few persons declined to complete
complex issues. Rollin® states that “a major area of an- the 2-page survey while they waited for their surrender forms
to be processed. Participanis were told that their answers to
imal abuse in our society is to be found in our treat- the questionnaire would not affect whether or not their pet
ment of companion animals.” He further notes the num- would be available for adoption. A total of 130 question-
bers of pets that are euthanatized because “owners are naires were received, 74 from cat owners and 56 from dog
ignorant of the most basic aspects of the animal’s be- owners, Shelter census reports indicated that 1,406 dogs and
havior...ignorant of the animal’s most basic needs.” 3,263 cats were received during those 4 months.
Kidd et al* found differences between people who The survey included forced-choice options and open-
keep their pets and those who surrender their pets. ended questions, Areas of questions included where the pet
They also found that people who keep their pets have was obtained, why the pet was being relinquished, pet be-
fewer unreasonable expectations for pets roles in their havior problems, owner demographics, and pet ownership.
lives than people who surrender their pets have. Ar-
Options for where the pet was obtained included from a pet
store, shelter, breeder, or private owner; as a stray; and other.
kow? reported that characteristics of dogs that were Feline behavior problems that could be selected included lit-
surrendered by their owners included being obtained ter box-related, spraying, biting, furniture scratching, ob-
without cost, from a neighbor or friend, or as a com- jecting to being held, fear, and other. Canine behavior
panion for children. Such dogs were released to a hu- problems included destructive chewing, housebreaking, hy-
mane society because of lifestyle changes or behavior peractivity, biting, barking, marking, fear, and other. Options
problems, or because the dog required too much time for reasons for relinquishing the pet included too much work,
and responsibility. time, or money required; pet misbehavior; owner or pet ill-
To extend such findings, we developed a ques- ness; moving; unwanted litter; and other.
tionnaire to gather data from people who released their Two modified psychological stress-assessment scales
were included in the questionnaire because we hypothesized
pets to a humane society. The purpose of the study that when life is stressful, pets may become less of a priority.
reported here was to examine relevant factors that con- The first of these® is used to measure total life stress. We
tribute to a person’s decision to surrender a pet. also used a paired item from a second stress scale,’” which
The questionnaire included questions pertaining was used to determine how much of a daily problem or daily
to characteristics of the cats and dogs surrendered and benefit the owner perceives the pet as being. Pearson corre-
to characteristics of the owners who release pets to an lation was used to determine association between life stress
animal shelter.* We hoped to further define the re- and other interval variables measured in the study. Because
ported pet characteristics that lead to owner dissatis- of our interest in pets acquired as companions for children
faction and the personal characteristics of owners who and relinquished, we compared behavior problems reported
in cats from homes with children with that in cats from
surrendered their pets, and to describe the relationship homes without children via (-tests for independent samples,
between pet and owner characteristics that lead to and did the same for dogs.
abandonment of companion animals.
From the Capital Area Humane Society, 3015 Scioto-Darby Fx- Resuits
ecutive Ct, Hilliard, OH 430268990 (Miller); the Department of Obtaining the pet—Most of our owners originally
Psychology, Founders Hall, The Ohio State University, Newark, OH obtained their pet from a private owner (Fig 1). This
43055 (Staats); the Department of Psychology, University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley, CA 94720 (Partlo); and the Department of Psy- was true for purebred (19 dogs and 2 cats) and mixed-
chology, Georgia Southern University, Stateshoro, GA 30460 (Rada). breed animals. Shelters were the second most common

738 Exploring the Bond Vv 1 Today JAVMA, Vol 209, No. 4, August 15, 1996
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AVMA 08996

Private owner 47% Private owner 54%

Litter 4%
Litter 17% / Shelter 11%
Pet store 6%

Stray 6%
Pet store 11% Shelter 23%
Stray 14% Breeder 8%

CATS DOGS
Figurdg 1—Original sources of abandoned pets in this study. Values in all figures do not equal 100% because of
rounding

Companionship 44%
/—\Companlonship 36%
Y N

Stray 24%

Other 7%
Other 9%

Stray 38%
For another person 18%

CATS DOGS
Figure 2—Reason for obtaining a pet, as reported by owners surrendering that pet to a shelter.

7-12 mo 38%
0-6 mo 24% 7-12 mo 26%

55 yr 17%
/ 37-60 mo 6% 13-18 mo 6%
19-24 mo 14% 7 26-36 mo 9% 25-36 mo 8%
0-6 mo 16%
56 yr 12% 13-18 mo 9% 37260) mo 9% - mo8 8 N
18224'
CATS DOGS
Figure 3—Age of pets surrendered to the shelter.

JAVMA, Vol 209, No. 4, August 15, 1996 Exploring the Bond 739
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Owner ill 156% Moving 29%

Time Work § 21%

Behavior 14% Pet ill 4%

Pet ill 5%
/
Litter 5%
Other 13%
Litter 13% Moving 19% L Owner ill 9%

Time work $ 13% Other 12%

CATS DOGS
Figure 4—Reason reported by owner for surrendering pet. Time Work $ = too much time, work, or money required.

Table 1—Demographics and pet interaction data for 130 bers). The most commonly reported behavior problem
owners surrendering a pet to a shelter in cats was fearfulness, followed by scratching the fur-
Pet type niture, not using the litter box, and objecting to being
held. Only 1 behavior problem, scratching the furni-
Oviner variable Cat Dog significantly more prevalent in cats from
ture, was
Mean age (y) 37 08 homes with children (P < 0.05).
Mean income (5) 2808 2560 The most common reason for relinquishing a dog
No.of menfwomen 1631 2018
Marial status (No. of owners) was the dog’s behavior. There were 24 male and 29
Singlo 1 8 female dogs, with 27 sexually intact and 21 neutered
Married % n (missing data accounted for the discrepancy in num-
Divorced 4 3 bers). The most commonly reported behavior problem
Widowed 3 2
No.of home ownersfrnters 21 1615 in dogs was hyperactivity, followed by housebreaking
Mean no.of children 1 05 problems when the owner was absent, housebreaking
Mean time spent with pet (6] 89 51
iy benefi from pet” 20 19 problems when the owner was at home, biting, de-
Mean daily problem from pet* 13 i structive chewing when the owner was away, fearful-
*Values are scores from stress scale. ness, barking when the owner was absent, barking
when the owner was at home, barking outdoors, and
destructive chewing when the owner was at home, re-
source of dogs and a contributing source of cats. Ap- spectively. Other reasons for relinquishing dogs in-
proximately half of the cat owners and about a third cluded the owner moving, the landlord not allowing
of the dog owners had not planned to acquire the pet dogs, owner having a baby, too many pets, and not
that they eventually relinquished. These owners enough room. A significant (P < 0.05) difference was
adopted a stray or received the pet as a gift (Fig 2). found in barking while the owners were home, with
However, 51% ol the cat owners (23/45 people) and dogs from families with children reported as barking
63% of the dog owners (21/33 people) had planned to more than dogs [rom homes without children.
obtain their pet. The major reason reported for origi- Of the pets over 2 years old, the most common
nally acquiring the pet was a desire for companionship. reasons reported for release were that the owner was
In addition, 18% of the dogs (6/33) had been obtained moving and miscellaneous reasons (eg, the owner was
originally for someone other than the owner who was expecting a baby, personal problems, too many pets,
relinquishing the dog. landlord not allowing). Of the dogs older than 2 years,
6 were relinquished because the owner was moving,
Reasons for relinquishing the pet—More than and 5 because of miscellaneous reasons. Of the cats
half of the animals in this study were a year or younger over 2 years old, 8 were released because of miscella-
at surrender; 73% of the cats (48/66) and 67% of the neous reasons, and 6 because the owner was moving.
dogs (35/53) were 2 years or younger (Fig 3). We Although a direct relationship between the life-
found some differences, however, between cat and dog stress scale and other interval variables was not evi-
data in the reason given for surrendering the animal dent, 13% of the cats (10/80) and 21% of the dogs (12/
(Fig 4). The main reason reported for releasing a cat 57) were relinquished because they were too much
to the humane society was that the owner was moving. work, took up too much time, or cost too much to
The second and third most common responses were keep.
owner illness (especially allergies) and animal behavior
problems, respectively. There were 28 male and 32 fe- Owner information—More married than single
male cats, with 34 sexually intact and 27 neutered people relinquished pets in this sample (Table 1), and
(missing data accounted for the discrepancy in num- the numbers of home owners and renters were equal.

740 Exploring the Bond JAVMA, Vol 209, No. 4, August 15, 1996
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More women released cats to the humane society, al- play in cats as aggression), the reported behavior prob-
though a sex difference in relinquishment was not ev- lems in this study were part of the pet’s normal and
ident for dog owners. expected behavior. Educated owners not only expect
Owners said they spent about 8.9 hours a day this sort of behavior, but they are prepared to educate
with their cats and 5.1 hours a day with their dogs. cats and dogs in these areas.
When asked to report on daily benefits and problems Veterinarians are often the pet owner’s only con-
from their cat on the day of surrender, owners re- tact with an animal professional. Preparing new own-
ported a daily benefit of 2.0 (“quite a bit") and a daily ers and owners with young children to anticipate the
problem score of 1.3 (with 1 = “a little” and 2 = “quite work, time, and money involved in rearing a young
a bit”). Dog owners reported that their pet gave them pet and helping with pet management issues that lead
a daily benefit of 1.9 and a daily problem of 1.4. to pet relinquishment (eg, housebreaking, chewing,
exercise, litter box care, scratching the furniture, so-
Discussion cialization periods) can make a difference for clients
The data from this study are robust and replicate and for their pets. Owners need to know what to ex-
the findings of others. They also add new information pect as normal pet behavior and how to care for and
about the complex issues that influence owner rejec- manage their pet.
tion of pets, but further replication is needed. Because of the number of pets abandoned when
As in Arkow’s study,” the typical dog was obtained the owner moves or experiences other life changes, we
from a friend or neighbor and was readily relinquished must learn more about factors that enhance the bond-
when conditions changed. We also found that most ing between a pet and its owner. Ainsworth® has em-
cats were obtained from a private owner and were phasized the importance of interaction and respon-
readily relinquished when conditions changed. For siveness in promoting attachment between 2 people.
whom the pet was acquired (eg, child, spouse, parent) Encouraging pet owners to interact with their pets dur-
and whether that person desired a pet or had been ing walks, brushing, playing, training, and petting and
involved in the selection process, and how these fac- to become more responsive to their pets should be ex-
tors impacted the decision to relinquish the animal are amined as a way of increasing owners’ attachment to
also important factors relating to obtaining and retain- their pets. Increasingly, human-animal bond research
ing a pet. is focused on measures of attachment,*1° on whether
The reasons for relinquishing pets are likely to attachment can predict the family that will take their
vary seasonally. This study was not conducted during pet with them when they relocate," and on whether
the major reproductive season for cats and dogs, which developmental changes over the human lifespan affect
could have influenced our resulis. Unwanted litters a person’s attitude toward pets.'
would be a more common reason for rejecting pets ‘We must take other measures to help owners who
during the spring and summer than during the winter, want to keep their pets through life changes, but have
Although Kidd et al* found that men, first-time pet difficulty finding rental properties that allow their pets.
owners, and parents are more likely to reject a pet, the Providing pet owners with educational programs re-
current study found that married persons were more garding their responsibilities in rental properties (and
likely to relinquish their pet than were single persons. even certifying good rental candidates with pets), of-
In addition, we found that behavior problems (barking fering loans for pet deposits to pet owners, and im-
in dogs and scratching the [urniture in cats) were sig- proving landlords’ opinions and policies on pets are
nificantly more prevalent in homes with children than also approaches that can be tried to keep more pets
in homes without them. Because excitement and op- with their families through residence changes.
portunities for highly arousing behavior are generally Although we found no correlation between the
greater in a home with children than in a home with stress scales and other variables, stress seems to affect
only adults, this finding was not particularly surpris- owner relinquishment of their pets. For example, peo-
ing. For dogs, families with children also may separate ple released their pets to the shelter because the pets
their pet from the family or leave their dog outdoors took too much time, work, and money. People who
more than childless owners do, which could have con- relinquished pets in this study reported lower daily
tributed to these results. For cats, possible explana- benefits and higher daily problems than in an unre-
tions for this dilference could have included arousal lated study" of people over 50 years of age who kept
related to activity in the home, displacement behavior, their pets. In that group, the mean daily benefit from
and territorial display. pets was 2.2 and the mean daily problem score was
As is evident by considering the reported pet be- 0.80. Kanmer et al’ predict that people experience
havior problems in conjunction with the young age of stress when the proportion of daily benefits does not
most of the relinquished pets, much of the effect of offset the proportion of daily problems and that, over
pet behavior on relinquishment may have more to do time, the daily problems accumulate to induce serious
with the owners than with the pet. Young cats and stress.
dogs are not as sedate as older pets are, and thus, many Educators and researchers can compare what a pet
of the behavior problems mentioned previously may owner expects from a pet with how much of a problem
be attributable to normal feline and canine develop- that owner views normal pet behavior and responsibil-
ment, rather than to behavior disorders. With the ex- ities toward the pet. Owners may be less likely to con-
ception of biting (although many inexperienced owners sider unwanted behavior a problem if they expect that
confuse play biting and mouthing in puppies and rough behavior to develop over the normal course of time.

JAVMA, Vol 209, No. 4, August 15, 1996 Ve ed Today Exploring the Bond 741
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Conclusions 2. Arkow P. Animal control laws and enforcement. J Am Vet

Med Assoc 1991;198:1164-1172.
Society's problem is not too many pets or un-
wanted pets, but people’s expectations ol pets. Pet
3. Rollin BE. Social ethics, veterinary medicine, and the pet
overpopulation problem. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1991;198:1153-1156.
owners commonly lack knowledge and awareness of 4. Kidd AH, Kidd RM, George CC. Successful and unsuccessful
the responsibilities of pet ownership. This lack of pet adoptions. Psychol Rep 1992;70:547-561.
knowledge leads to pets that are mismanaged and un- 5. Arkow P. The Humane Society and the human-animal bond
trained, and the result is too often abandonment of the reflections on the broken bond. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract
pet. What owners need are reasonable expectations of 1985;15:455-466.
feline and canine developmental behavior, as well as 6. Holmes TH, Rahe RH. The social readjustment rating scale.
J Psychosom Res 1967;11:213-218.
ways to humanely deal with this behavior and to raise 7. Kanner AD, Coyne JC, Schaefer C, et al. Comparison of two
a suitable animal companion. modes of stress measurement: daily hassles and uplifts versus major
Responsibly caring for animals involves educating life events. J Behav Med 1981;4:1-39.
their owners. Veterinarians play critical roles in the 8. Ainsworth MS. Attachments beyond infancy. Am Psychol
education of the general public regarding pet issues. 1989;44:700-716.
The combined efforts of animal professionals are needed 9. Johnson TP, Garrity TF, Stallones L. Psychometric evalua-
to instill realistic expectations of companion animal be- tion of the Lexington attachment to pets scale (LAPS). Anthrozoos
havior and of the commitments involved in pet own- 1991;5:160-175.
10. Miller M, Lago D. Observed pet-owner in-home interac-
ership. Few issues are more important for a pet than tions: species differences and association with the pet relationship
having a lifelong home. scale. Anthrozoos 1990;4:49-54
11. Chumley PR, Gorski JD, Saxton AM, et al. Companion
“A copy of the questionnaire is available on request from the animal attachment and military transfer. Anthrozoos 1993:6:258—
author. 271
12. Wilson CC. A conceptual framework for human-znimal
interaction research: the challenge revisited. Anthrozoos 1994;7:4—
References 12
1. Manning AM, Rowan AN. Companion animal demographics 13. Miller DD, Staats S5, Partlo CI. Discriminating positive and
and sterilization status: results from a survey in four Massachusetts negative aspects of pet interactions: sex differences in the older pop-
towns. Anthrozoos 1991;5:192-201. ulation. Soc Indicat Res 1992;27:415-431.

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742 Exploring the Bond A% ed Today JAVMA, Vol 209, No. 4, August 15, 1996