Why do people surrender dogs to animal shelters?
Dogs surrendered to a shelter are more likely to have behaviour problems, and their owners to have a low attachment to them, study shows.
By Zazie Todd, PhD
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By Zazie Todd, PhD
This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.
Five to seven million companion animals arrive at animal shelters in the US each year, and about half of these are animals being surrendered by their owners. Why do
people surrender their pets? To find out, a new study by Jennifer Kwan and
Melissa Bain compared dogs being relinquished at three Sacramento animal
shelters to those dogs that were there simply to receive their vaccinations.
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Photo: rebeccaashworth/Shutterstock |
The experimenter spent time at the shelters during the hours
when relinquishments could take place, and when vaccination clinics were
available. She approached people to ask them to complete the questionnaires,
which were available in English or Spanish. A total of 129 people took part; 80
relinquishing owners, and 49 continuing owners.
Some people were not approached to take part because their
dogs seemed to be aggressive, and the experimenter would have had to hold them
while the owner completed the questionnaire. In addition, if relinquishing owners
seemed particularly upset or arrived requesting euthanasia of the dog, they
were not asked to take part, so as not to exacerbate their distress. It is
possible this had an effect on the results.
The questionnaire asked about demographic information,
attachment to the pet, behavioural problems, and, in the case of relinquished
dogs, the reasons why. Participants could rate potential reasons for
relinquishment as ‘not a reason’, ‘somewhat of a reason’ and ‘strong reason’, so
it was possible for multiple reasons to be given. The results from the three
shelters were combined for analysis.
Relinquished dogs and ‘continuing’ dogs were equally likely
to have attended training classes. The relinquished dogs were significantly
more likely to live as outside dogs all of the time, and were significantly
older; amongst the male dogs, they were significantly more likely to be intact.
Relinquishing and continuing owners were equally likely to
have used punishment-based techniques in training their dogs. There was a
correlation between the use of prong and choke collars and problems in
loose-leash walking. However, it is not possible to know if these were only employed
because of difficulties training loose-leash walking, or if they contributed to
the problems, for example by misuse or by owners assuming they didn’t need to
train if using them.
Dogs in the relinquished group were significantly more
likely to have problem behaviours than those that were being kept. Sixty-five
per cent of relinquishing owners said that a behavioural problem was a
contributing factor, and about half said it was a relatively strong influence. Aggression
was the most common behavioural problem given as a strong reason for
relinquishment.
Attachment to pets is a construct that includes knowledge
about the pet’s needs, feelings of closeness to the pet, and time spent with
them. Attachment scores were significantly lower for relinquishing owners
compared to continuing owners. Although not surprising, this is the first time
it has been shown using a standard measure of attachment. It would be
interesting to know how attachment changes and develops over the duration of an
owner’s relationship with their pet.
About a third of owners said they were ‘very satisfied’ with
their dog’s behaviour. Those who were not so satisfied also had significantly
lower scores for attachment, suggesting a link between behaviour and attachment
to dogs.
Although moving house was a common reason for animal
relinquishment, many people had other pets that weren’t being relinquished.
This doesn’t mean they gave incorrect information; many rental properties have
rules about the number, height or breed of pets. This is also a potential reason
for the numbers of pit bulls in the relinquished group, because they are often
listed as one of the restricted breeds. While it is surprising to learn that
people might relinquish some pets and choose to keep others, it is useful to
know as future studies can make a point of learning about kept animals as well
as relinquished ones.
The most interesting finding of this study is the frequency
of behavioural problems as a reason for relinquishment. This is not surprising,
but it underlines the need to help owners find better ways of preventing
problems in the first place and managing them if they arise. Surprisingly
little is known about people's information-seeking regarding behaviour and
training issues, and unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation.
If you liked this post, check out my book Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy. Modern Dog magazine calls it "The must-have guide to improving your dog's life."
What are your favourite books or other resources for dog
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Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, writes The Pawsitive Post premium newsletter, and also has a column at Psychology Today. Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, one dog, and two cats.
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Reference
Kwan, J., & Bain, M. (2013). Owner Attachment and Problem Behaviors Related to Relinquishment and Training Techniques of Dogs Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 16 (2), 168-183 DOI: 10.1080/10888705.2013.768923As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. As an Etsy affiliate and Marks and Spencer affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.