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The authors' recent research on newly adopted pets indicates the adopters' age, gender, marital status, parenting status, history of previous pet ownership, knowledge about pets, expectations about the roles pets will play in their own and their children's lives, and the adopters' own personality characteristics all play a significant part in the ultimate retention or rejection of newly acquired pets. The authors suggest ideas for developing techniques to reduce the number of pet rejections.
In the Kidd, Kidd, and George (1992a) seminal study of the success of pet adoptions, a history of previous pet ownership as well as the demographic variables of age, gender, marital status, and parenting status seemed to play an important part in the retention or rejection of the newly adopted pets. It was reported that within six months of adoption, 20% of the 343 adopters had rejected their new pets. Of these rejecters, 62% were first-time owners. While a significantly higher percentage of first-time adopters rejected the newly adopted pet than did previous pet-owning adopters (Z=4.00, p<.01), adults who had owned pets in childhood rejected significantly fewer newly adopted pets than did those who had owned pets only as adults (Z=3.50,p<.01). Rejecters were significantly younger (M=31.7 yrs., SD=10.5) than retainers (M=35.8 yrs.,SD=11.7; t343=2.53, p<.01). A significantly higher percentage of men than women rejected their newly adopted pets (Z=3.50, p<.01) as did a significantly higher percentage of married versus single adults (Z=2.75, p<.01) and a significantly higher percentage of parents than non-parents (Z=3.50, p<.01).
Of course, the earlier Kidd and Kidd (1989) study of attachment to pets had already noted that adults who had owned pets during childhood and/or adolescence were more attached to their pets than first-time owners, that women were more attached to their pets than men, that childless adults were more attached to pets than parents, and that single adults were more attached than married adults. It also demonstrated that more-attached owners are less likely to reject newly adopted pets than less-attached owners.
Indeed, using the George Pet Expectations Inventory scores in a stepwise entry discriminant function analysis, it was possible to predict pet retention or rejection quite accurately 72% of the time, and addition of the adopter's age, gender, marital status, parenting status, and history of previous pet ownership factors improved prediction accuracy to 86% of the time.
Obviously, first-time pet adopters need to be educated about pets and their species-specific characteristics. Since veterinarians in private practice deal closely with their clients, answer questions, discuss training methods, and help with problems and difficulties before or after they arise, Kidd, Kidd, and George (1992b) asked veterinarians to have clients with newly acquired pets fill out the George Pet Expectations Inventory. Responses indicated that veterinarians' clients had more pets (2.3) per family than did shelter clients (1.1), signifying that veterinary clients had more experience with animals than did shelter clients. Veterinary clients rejected significantly fewer pets than did shelter clients (Z=6.50, p<.01). Only 5 of the 75 veterinary clients (7%) rejected their new pets. The five rejecters were younger (34.5 yrs.) than the retainers (42.3 yrs.). The veterinary clients were older (M=41.0 yrs., SD 12.6) than the shelter adopters (M=34.1 yrs., SD 11.7; t473=3.70, p<.01). Veterinary clients did not differ from shelter clients in their overall expectations for the roles the new pets would play in their own lives, but their scores on expectations for the roles pets would play in the lives of their children were significantly lower than those of shelter adopters on "teach responsibility" (t164=5.40, p<.01) and "teach children to love" (t164=2.33, p<.01). Veterinary clients' expectations for the roles pets would play in their children's lives, therefore, were more reasonable than those of shelter adopters.
Although dogs and cats are the most common pets in the United States, there are also an estimated 25 million birds and 20 million horses privately owned (Connelly, 1982) by individuals with noteworthy personality characteristics. Additionally, there are approximately five million snakes and two million turtles similarly privately owned despite laws prohibiting possession of poisonous reptiles and members of endangered species (Resource Center, U.C. Davis, Personal communication, 1982). However, Kidd, Kelley, & Kidd (1983) were able to obtain data from these groups by having The Adjective Check List and assurances of total anonymity given to the owners of such pets by veterinarians, friends, and other group members. The responses were returned by SASEs. The results showed that, in general, horse owners were assertive, introspective, and self-concerned, but were limited in cooperativeness, nurturing, novelty seeking, and in warm human relationships. Male horse owners were aggressive and dominant and less expressive than female horse owners or than turtle, snake, and bird owners. Female horse owners avoided aggression and were easy going. Turtle owners were hard-working, reliable, goal-oriented, and tended to see the world as lawful. Snake owners were unconventional, informal, novelty seeking, and somewhat unpredictable. Bird owners were contented, courteous, expressive, social, and altruistic.
This is obviously unrealistic. Shelters have limited budgets and staff. The average adopter spends an hour or less at the shelter before leaving with a pet in hand. Nonetheless, it should be possible to survey for all these variables (except owner personality characteristics) with a short questionnaire.
An evaluation of the animals to be adopted is also necessary. The animals are frequently screened by volunteers who are emotionally invested in seeing that each animal finds a home, any home. One volunteer told the authors "I want them to get homes, so I write down `sweet and loving' for every animal." Another shelter worker described walking in on a couple and their six-month-old baby who were considering adopting a large, untrained, and obviously unsuitable dog. The worker related "I wouldn't let that particular dog into my house without a choke chain, and would never consider letting it get near a young child!" (S. Crouch, personal communication, March, 1994). The worker believed the dog to be vicious and dangerous even though the volunteers had described it as "sweet and gentle." Obviously, volunteers need to be educated in how to realistically evaluate the practical adoptive consequences for each shelter animal and for the potential adopter.
Ideally, all animals should be immunized and spayed or neutered before adoption. These procedures reduce the number of additional demands on the new owner and prevent the birth of additional unwanted puppies or kittens.
Because lack of knowledge plays a significant role in pet rejections, first-time owners should be required to attend an information class lasting at least an hour. Ideally, there should be separate courses for cat and dog adopters, and the courses should cover the specific costs of ownership, time requirements for care and nurturing, and species-specific behaviors of both the young and the older animals. Dog adopters especially should be taught the rudiments of behavior modification so that they do not end up inadvertently using cruel methods of training. Cat adopters need to be taught that cats can be trained, though the training is more time consuming than dog training. Of course, the importance of positive reinforcement for ensuring loving and loveable pets should be stressed in both courses.
There are a number of excellent books and video tapes about raising and living with dogs and cats. A list of these resources should accompany each newly adopted pet. Many shelters have the actual resources available for rent or purchase. Some of the resources are designed for children and should be made available if there are children in the new adopter's home. The video tape "Claws, Paws, Feathers, and Fins" by Kidvidz, for example, teaches children from four to sixty the pleasurable whys and how tos of responsible pet ownership and good pet care through memorable lyrics and moving graphics.
Finally, new adopters, especially first-timers, should receive supportive monthly telephone calls for the first six months to remind the new owners about needed immunizations, answer any questions, and suggest solutions for any problems which may have arisen since the adoption.
Of course it is unrealistic to assume successful retention for all pet adoptions with these techniques. By using as many techniques, however, as each veterinary clinic, shelter, animal welfare group, and animal protective society can afford to staff and implement, the ultimate 100% retention goal could be brought closer to reality and an impressive reduction in the number of rejected and openly abandoned pets could be realized.
Request reprints from A. H. Kidd, Ph.D., School of Veterinary Medicine, Center for Animals in Society, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616.
For more than a decade she has conducted research on relationships between animals and average humans of all ages.
He taught Technical Writing and cross-disciplinary literatures and religions at Oregon State University, the University of Iowa, Laverne College, California State University at L.A., and San Francisco State University. Most recently, he served as chaplain-counselor at the V.A. Medical Center in Martinez, CA, where he serves on the Human Studies and Animal Studies subcommittees.
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| Copies of this journal are no longer available for sale, but our other two journals, Society & Animals and the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, are available and subscriptions are quite affordable. They can be ordered online via our secure order page. |