title: Should Dogs and Cats be Given as Gifts?
abstract: Policies that state dogs and cats should not be adopted as gifts are prevalent at animal welfare organizations, despite the fact that this belief is unfounded. Denying adopters who intend to give the animals as gifts may unnecessarily impede the overarching goal of increasing the rate of live-releases of dogs and cats from our nations' shelter system. The results of this brief survey show that receiving a dog or cat as a gift was neither significantly associated with impact on self-perceived love/attachment, nor was it associated with whether or not respondents still had the dog or cat in the home. The results from this survey add to a growing body of literature that suggests there is no increased risk of relinquishment for dogs and cats received as a gift.
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), 3201 SW Winding Way, Palm City, FL 34990, USA. emily.weiss@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), P.O. Box 821075, Kenmore, WA 98028, USA. emily.dolan@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Emily D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), P.O. Box 408, Little Silver, NJ 07739, USA. laurie.garrison@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garrison
authors.affiliation: Research and Analytics, Media & Communications, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), 520 Eighth Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA. julie.hong@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Shelter Research and Development, Community Outreach, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), 50 Stone Ridge Drive, Florence, MA 01062, USA. margaret.slater@aspca.org.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slater
keywords: adoption policies; pet attachment; pet relinquishment; pets as gifts