Goodbye to a Good Friend : An Exploration of the Re-Homing of Cats and Dogs in the U . S .

When dogs and cats are not retained in a home, they are re-homed to somewhere, and while there is a collection of research around relinquishment to shelters, little is known about the general re-homing picture. A cross sectional random digit dial survey was conducted with an aim to learn more about who is re-homing, where they are re-homing and why they are re-homing owned dogs and cats in the US. We found the prevalence of re-homing in five years at 6% making for an estimated 6.12 million household re-homing pets every five years. Pets were most likely to be re-homed by being given to a friend or family member (37%) closely followed by being taken to a shelter. Those who re-homed due to a reason related to the pet as opposed to reasons such as family issues were more likely to re-home to a shelter. For respondents who rented, housing reasons were the number one reason for re-homing, and for respondents of lower income, they were significantly more likely to re-home due to cost and housing issues as opposed to pet related issues. We conclude that some reasons for re-homing are not easily modified and humane re-homing is the best option, but that there are many areas in which intervention and prevention programs may increase retention.


Introduction
In 2014, the estimated number of dogs in US households was 77.8 million and the estimated number of cats was 85.8 million [1].Of those dogs and cats, some do not remain in the same household throughout their lifetimesome enter shelters, while others are placed with new owners through other methods.The vast majority of data available on dogs and cats leaving their original homes is focused on those relinquished to shelters.This is likely because it is a known place to capture information on those re-homing their animals.Although it is difficult to know the exact number of animals entering shelters nationally, as there is not yet a central national database, it is estimated that the number is about 7.6 million dogs and cats, annually [2].While data vary based on community makeup and shelter policy, owner relinquished animals likely make up at least one third of those animals entering shelters [2], and there is a growing body of data around the descriptors of those dogs and cats that are relinquished.
Dogs relinquished to shelters tend to be between the ages of 5 months and 2 years [3] and reproductively intact [3] [4].They tend to be originally obtained from a variety of sources, such as a friend, shelter, or stray, are obtained for low or no cost, and typically owned for less than 1 year [3].Before being relinquished to a shelter, these dogs are more likely to be housed outside [3] or spend the majority of their day in a crate [5], and it would be unusual for these dogs to be allowed to sleep in the owner's bed [5].They tend to display undesirable behaviors [6], less likely to go to a veterinarian [4], are often ill or have an injury [7], or have a history of medical and/or behavioral issues [5].Lastly, intact female dogs appear to be at a higher risk for relinquishment, but there does not seem to be the same strong relationship for intact male dogs [3].
In regards to cats, Patronek et al. found reproductively intact cats, cats that were indoor/outdoor or lived exclusively outdoors were at a higher risk for relinquishment [8].New et al. found that cats were at a higher risk for relinquishment when the original source was a friend, pet shop, breeder or animal shelter verses obtained as a gift, from a veterinarian or stranger, or is offspring of a pet already in the home [3].Most cats that were relinquished were not seen by a veterinarian the year before [3], were not allowed to sleep in the owner's bed [5], and were more likely to have a history of medical and/or behavioral issues [5].Intact cats of both sexes were at a higher risk for relinquishment [8].
Studies focused on the risks for relinquishment from the perspective of the human have revealed some factors that are often quite complex.One study that interviewed people relinquishing dogs and cats at 12 shelters across the US showed the top reason for relinquishing a cat was personal issues which included allergies, the adopter having personal problems, and a new baby [9].The top three reasons for relinquishing a dog were lack of time, the adopter having personal problems, and allergies [9].
Recently conducted survey work by Weiss et al., focused on in-depth, one-on-one interviews with those relinquishing large dogs to two municipal shelters: one in Washington DC and the other in New York City.Moving, behavior concerns, lack of pet friendly housing options, and financial concerns were all drivers for relinquishment.This study revealed that in some cases, retention may be as simple as providing the owner with the funds to cover a pet deposit, while in other cases significant behavioral and financial needs likely make retention quite difficult [10].
Recent American Pet Products Association data showed 20% of surveyed dog owners and 28% of surveyed cat owners obtained their pets from friends or family [1], which points to dogs and cats changing hands outside of the shelter environment.We refer to all situations where an owned dog or cat is given to someone else with the intention of providing a new home as re-homing.We use the term relinquishment as it has been in the shelter literature to refer to animals surrendered to a shelter.As little is known about re-homing outside of the shelter context, this study aimed to learn the who, what, and how around animals being re-homed in the US.Specifically, we aimed to learn about the demographics of the people re-homing a pet, the pets they re-homed, their reasons for re-homing, and the ways in which they are re-homed.

Subjects
This study is a cross-sectional telephone survey of past or present US pet owners.A random sample of nationwide residential telephone numbers was obtained from a private survey-sampling firm.Both landlines (82% of numbers) and cell phone numbers (18% of numbers) were included.Subjects were eligible if they were 18 years or older and spoke enough English to participate.One household member was selected based on who had the most recent birthday.If this target respondent was not available at the initial call, subsequent calls were made to the household to try and reach that respondent.Respondents were then screened to include only current or previous dog or cat owners.The full survey was asked of any screened respondent who had re-homed a dog or cat within the past five years.The pet owner was asked to think about the pet most recently re-homed if more than one had been re-homed within the past 5 years.Respondents who re-homed more than one pet at a time were asked to provide responses for all pets re-homed at the most recent re-homing event.For example, if one cat was re-homed to friend/family and one to someone they didn't previously know, both answers would be included for that respondent.However, which cat was re-homed to which place was not tracked.Therefore, data were recorded at the respondent/household level not the individual pet level and all questions were designed accordingly.Pet owners who had re-homed a dog or cat more than five years prior were excluded from the study to reduce recall bias.Respondents who re-homed dogs and cats at the same re-homing event were also excluded to avoid mixing species specific responses.
Re-homing was defined for the respondent as follows: Sometimes circumstances change and people are unable to keep their pets for various reasons.Other than foster animals or puppies or kittens from your own pets that you sold or gave away, have you ever had to give up a cat or dog to a new home, a shelter or animal rescue organization, or a veterinarian, other than foster animals or puppies or kittens from your own pets?

Survey
The telephone survey was developed by the authors in conjunction with Edge Research, Inc.All questions were multiple choice with "other" as an option.The survey began with screening questions to assess eligibility.Re-homers who were eligible for the full survey were then asked details about the most recent re-homing event, including the number and species of the pets that were re-homed at that time, the pets' original source and spay/neuter status, where the pets were re-homed, reason for re-homing (primary reason and any contributing reason), the decision-making process leading up to re-homing, and what support services may have helped them to keep the pets.Additional information was collected on respondent demographics and household characteristics (Appendix 1).
Respondents were allowed to skip questions they did not want to answer.To qualify for the main analysis of re-homers, however, respondents must have minimally answered questions on where the pets were re-homed and demographic information.
The survey was pilot tested with 82 respondents to assess question clarity, sequence and response rates.These data were used to revise the final survey work.
Our objective was 600 completed re-homing surveys.This would provide a 95% confidence interval on the proportion of re-homed dogs or cats of ±5% if half of the sample was dogs and half cats.To reach 600 dog or cat re-homers, 105,813 phone numbers were randomly selected for the study.
The survey was fielded by interviewers with the American Directions Group, between October 14 and December 23, 2014 during weekday evenings and weekends.Each number was called up to 15 times before being considered a non-response.

Analysis of Data
The objectives of the data analysis were to describe characteristics of re-homers and the animals that were re-homed, frequency of reasons and methods for re-homing, and to compare characteristics of re-homers and non-re-homers.Information about the pets and people involved in re-homing was summarized using counts, percentages and 95% confidence intervals.
Respondents were asked for the primary reason for re-homing out of 14 answer choices and an "other" category.These 14 primary reasons were then collapsed into five categories: 1) pet related: problematic behaviors, aggressive behaviors, grew larger than expected, health problems owner couldn't handle; 2) family related: personal or family health troubles, allergies to pet, divorce or separation, new person in the household who did not like pet, death in the family, a new baby in the household, lack of time to care for pet; 3) housing related: landlord did not allow pets, didn't have enough space for pet; 4) resource related: could not afford the costs involved in having a pet; and 5) other.This collapsed variable was use throughout the manuscript unless otherwise specified.Respondents were also asked if any of the 14 choices other than the primary reason were part of the reason they re-homed their pet.
The question about the reason for re-homing included an "other" category and those were recorded verbatim.They were recoded into existing categories when appropriate.Any themes in the "other" category that were not captured in the existing answer choices were explored and added if appropriate.
The response choices for the source of the pets given up most recently was collapsed slightly based on sample size in each response.Similarly marital status, number of people living in the home, and employment were also collapsed as needed.The type of housing was collapsed to just rented or owned.Hispanic/Spanish speaking was combined with race to create a variable (ethnicity) with white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, other and prefer not to say as categories.Income was collapsed to ≤$50,000 and >$50,000.Zip code was converted to state of residence and collapsed into US Census regions [11] for analysis.
Available data on non-re-homers was compared to those who did re-home (age of respondent, current or past pet ownership, type of phone (landline or cell) and region.Among re-homers, we tested the associations between species of pet and pet characteristics, owner characteristics, and details of the re-homing process.We also assessed pre-planned comparisons between those who re-homed some vs. all of their pets (among those with more than one pet).Services that might have helped the owners keep the pet were summarized for respondents with income ≤ $50,000.All analyses used the chi-square test unless any expected value was less than 5 when Fisher exact test was used.Missing data was excluded from statistical analysis.p < 0.05 was considered to be significant.

Results
Out of 105,815 phone numbers, 2482 were blocked or on do not call list, 1333 respondents did not speak enough English to participate, 13,079 were disconnected, bad or non-residential leaving 88,919 usable numbers.There were 9668 refusals (of 88,919, 11%), 48,593 where the chosen respondent was not available (55%), 18413 with answering machine, no answer, busy (21%), and 12,245 (14%) reached and screened for eligibility.
There were five respondents who re-homed dogs and cats at the same time.To avoid confusion about species specific responses, these 5 respondents were excluded from further analysis, yielding 590 re-homers and 11,655 non-re-homers eligible for main analyses (Figure 1).
Those who re-homed an animal were significantly younger than those who did not (p < 0.001) with 21% who were 18 -39 years old (vs.9% for non-re-homers) and 21% who were ≥50 years old (vs.32% for non-re-homers).Similarly, the re-homers were more likely to be reached by cell phone (14% cell vs 6% landlines, p < 0.001).Re-homers and non-re-homers were contacted in all regions.

Characteristics of Re-Homed Animals and Households
There were 391 respondents who re-homed one or more dog(s) and 199 respondents who re-homed one or more cat(s) during the most recent re-homing event for their household.Table 1 shows the characteristics of dog and cat re-homers by animal and owner characteristics.The re-homed animals were most commonly all spayed/ neutered (58%, 95% CI 54% -62%) and were acquired free from a friend/relative/neighbor (28%, 95% CI 25% -32%).
Re-homed dogs and cats were similar in terms of proportion spayed/neutered.Respondents who re-homed cats were more likely to still have other cats than dogs retained in the home.Cats were more likely than dogs to have been acquired as strays and less likely as purchases or gifts.There were no significant differences between human demographics variables and species re-homed except that households that re-homed cats were less likely to have children under 18-year-old than those who re-homed a dog.

What Might Have Helped Pet Retention
Services that might have helped pet retention were examined for the lower income category since the services listed were all described as free or low cost.The service that was selected most commonly as something that might have helped respondents was free or low cost veterinary care (40%).Other service options were free or low cost training or behavior help (34%, more common for dog owners), access to pet friendly housing (33%), free or low cost spay/neuter services (30%), free or low cost pet food (30%), free or low cost temporary pet care or boarding (30%) and assistance in paying pet deposits (17%).

Where Pets Were Re-Homed
Pets were most likely to be re-homed by being given to a friend or family member (37%) closely followed by being taken to a shelter (36%, Table 1).Being taken to a veterinarian (14%), given to someone not previously known (stranger, 11%) and set free (1%) were less likely re-homing options.When dogs and cats were compared by where they were re-homed, cats were more likely to have been re-homed through a veterinarian and less likely to a friend or family member (p = 0.02).Among re-homers with more than one pet, there were no significant differences between those who re-homed only some of their pets and those re-homed all of their pets in terms of where the pet was re-homed (p = 0.1 for cat and p = 0.2 for dogs).
When respondents re-homed to friends or family, 42% also considered re-homing to the shelter.When respondents re-homed to the shelter, 18% also considered re-homing to a stranger.
For respondents who did not re-home to a shelter, they were asked if they had contacted a shelter prior to re-homing.Only 36 dog re-homers (14%) and 18 cat re-homers (18%) had contacted a shelter prior to re-homing.
Where the animal was re-homed was associated with respondent age (p = 0.006) and homeowner status (p = 0.001) but not income (p = 0.4).Those who were 18 -29 years old were more likely than other age groups to re-home to friends/family (48% vs. 37% overall), to strangers (15% vs. 11% overall) or by setting the pet free (3% vs. 1% overall) This same age group was less likely to re-home to shelters (24% vs. 36% overall) or veterinarians (7% vs. 14% overall).Re-homing to friends/family (47%) or setting the pet free (3%) was more likely for renters.

Reasons for Re-Homing
There were 10 respondents who indicated they re-homed due to too many pets and 18 respondents who were moving.These responses were included in "pet problem" and "housing problem" in the collapsed categories for re-homing, respectively.
There were no differences between dogs and cats for the primary reason they were re-homed (p = 0.2, Table 1).Respondent 18 -29 years old were more likely than others to re-home for housing and less likely than others to re-home for family or pet problems (p < 0.001, Table 2).Those 65 and over were more likely than others to re-home for other reasons and less likely for housing problems.Respondents with income ≤ $50,000 were more likely than others to re-home due to cost or housing and less likely than others due to pet related problems.We also found re-homing reason was significantly associated with ethnicity, marital status, presence of children in household, number of household members, rent/own status, employment status, and urban location We found a significant association between where the respondent re-homed the pet and the primary reason for re-homing (Table 2, p < 0.001).When pets were re-homed to friend/family, family and housing problems were most common and cost and pet problems, least common.When pets were re-homed to the shelter, the opposite pattern was seen with cost and pet problems most common and family and housing least common.When pets were re-homed to veterinarians, pet problems were most common and housing least.Pets who were set free were more likely to have "other" reasons for re-homing.In examining the responses that included any contributing reason for re-homing and comparing them to the collapsed primary reason for re-homing, two patterns were seen.The first was that more than 70% of the individual reasons clustered within one collapsed category.For example, when personal or family health troubles was one of the reasons for re-homing, 71% of respondents only gave other family related reasons.This was also true for divorce/separation, allergic to pet, landlord did not allow pets (76% in housing), behavior problems (76% in pet problems), aggression (82% in pet related), pet health problems (83% in pet problems).However, the other seven individual possible reasons were more spread out, suggestion that these pets may have been re-homed in a more complex, and multi-factorial situation.

Re-Homing Some or All Pets
Among respondents who had multiple animals in the household during their most recent re-homing event, 12% re-homed all the animals in the household and 88% re-homed only some of the animals.There was no association between age and re-homing all or some pets (p = 0.5).Dog owners were more likely to have re-homed all their dogs if the income was ≤$50,000 compared to if the income was >$50,000 (18% and 6%, respectively, p = 0.008).Among cat owners, there was no different in re-homing all or some for cats by income (p = 0.1).Renters were more likely to have re-homed all their dogs (45% all vs 18% overall p = 0.001) or all their cats (44% all vs 15% overall, p = 0.001).There were no differences when comparing where the pet was re-homed by whether or not some pets were kept for dogs (p = 0.2) or cats (p = 0.1).
Re-homing all the pets or only some of the pets was significantly associated with why the pet was re-homed (p < 0.001, Table 2).

Discussion
This study aimed to increase the available information relevant to the re-homing of dogs and cats in the US.Specifically, we aimed to learn about the demographics of the people and the pets they re-homed, their reasons for re-homing, and the ways in which they re-homed.
While, due to resource restraints, we did not focus many of our survey questions on those that have not re-homed their pets, it was of interest that we found differences between the groups.Those who re-homed an animal were significantly younger than those did not.This finding supports other research that found those that did not retain a shelter pet were younger than those that did [5].
One of the most basic but informative points was to learn the percentage of those who either currently have a pet or had a pet recently who also had re-homed a pet in the past 5 years.In our sample the rate of re-homing was 6%.Ninety four percent of those who fit the pet owning criteria had not re-homed a pet.With the most recent American Pet Products Association estimates of households with dogs and cats in the US at 102 million and with 6% of them re-homing pets in 5 years [1], this would put an estimate of the number of households in the US re-homing pets every 5 years at 6.12 million households.
Of particular interest is where dogs and cats are being re-homed.As much of the research regarding retention of pets has focused on the shelter population [3]- [5] [12], gaining an understanding as to where pets move when re-homed provides new insight regarding the incidence of pet homelessness as well as the potential opportunities for re-homing to occur without an animal becoming temporarily (or permanently) homeless.Combining dogs and cats, people were most likely to re-home their pet to a friend or family member (37%) followed by relinquishment to a shelter (36%).When exploring the differences between dogs and cats, we found that re-homing to a friend or family member was the most likely way to re-home for canines (41%), and the second likely way to be re-homed for felines (30%).The most common place for re-homing of felines was to shelters at 40% of re-homed felines reported to be relinquished to shelters.
We explored other re-homing options that people considered and found some interesting patterns.Forty two percent of respondents who re-homed to friends and family also considered a shelter for re-homing, and 18% of those who re-homed to a shelter considered re-homing to someone they did not know.We hypothesize one of the drivers for shelter relinquishment may be lack of ready access to other options for re-homing.
When we explored where those in our sample who re-homed their pets obtained their pets, we find for cats that 28% were obtained from friends/family, followed closely by taking in a stray (24%) and shelters at 18%.The most recent American Pet Products Association data reflects a similar trend in acquisition for cats with shelters, friends/relatives and strays being the top three sources for acquisition [1].Dogs too were most likely to be obtained from a friend/relative/neighbor (27%), followed by those who obtained their dog from a breeder or purchased the dog through an online listing (23%), followed by shelters (17%).Similarly, American Pet Products Association data is in agreement [1] for dogs with the top three being sources being breeders, shelter/ rescues and friend/relative.
It is interesting to note that the percentage of altered pets in the sample was lower than what might be expected in the general pet population of 90% for cats and 86% for dogs [1], with just 56% of all dogs re-homed being altered and 62% of cats.Research focused on shelter relinquishment note that relinquished animals are less likely to be altered than other pets [3], and these data may further support a potential link between retention and alter status.
We explored the difference in reasons for re-homing by where respondents re-homed to uncover any patterns.Those that re-homed their pets because of a cost problem were more likely to relinquish to a shelter than any other place.We found that pets re-homed for issues regarding family (new baby for example) or housing problems were more likely to be re-homed with friends or family than any other place, and if multiple pets were present, they were more likely to all be re-homed at once.Most interesting is the finding that pets re-homed due to an issue regarding him/herself were most likely to be relinquished to a shelter.When we looked further into those pet related issues, we found that pets displaying aggression were driving the significance, with pets showing other problematic behavior or health or size challenges not significant.When we asked respondents "besides the option you chose for re-homing, what other option did you consider", only 14% responded that they considered a shelter.It may be that those confronted with aggression issues chose the shelter not because they couldn't find another option, but that they chose to not find another option.
One of the most powerful findings in the study was the differences in reasons for re-homing for those with an income below $50,000 and those with an income above.Those with income below that threshold were significantly more likely to re-home due to cost and housing issues as opposed to pet related issues, and were more likely to re-home all pets in the household at once.We hypothesize that this may be because financially related risks to retention can be more easily absorbed by those with higher incomes.When we probed regarding options that may have helped retention, affordable veterinary care, pet friendly housing free or low cost food and boarding were reported by at least 30%.A recent study (in review) found that in a population of people with pets living in poverty, high stress in the household increased the likelihood that a person would need to relinquish.When these relinquishers were given access to solutions, medical care for example, they reported they would prefer the solution as opposed to re-homing.Poverty in and of itself is not a driver, but it appears that lack of access to affordable options for pet care and retention is.By increasing access to these options, we can likely increase retention.
The inverse of the income finding is that those with higher incomes are more likely to re-home for pet related problems (such as behavior or pets not getting along).We hypothesize that this is due to the fact that the cost related problems are more easily absorbed by this population.
It is also very important to note that for those that rented, housing problems were the number one reason for re-homing.Lack of affordable, accessible pet friendly housing has been shown to be a driver for relinquishment [10], and this study highlights if one needs to rent, the risk for a need to re-home is high simply because there are not options available where the person needs to live.With more people living with pets [1], access to affordable pet friendly housing is likely one of the most important solutions to decreasing dog and cat homelessness.
American Pet Products Association's estimate of 102 million pet owning households [1], an estimated 1.2 million households set free dogs and cats every five years.We found in a previous study that most people who lose their pet recover their pet and that the number of stray animals estimated to enter shelters far exceeds the number of lost dogs and cats that have people looking for them [13].This data set hints at the population of pets that are truly abandoned and have no one looking to find them.While re-homing is occurring for just a small fraction of the pet owning population, the number of animals that end up homeless in the process (by landing at a shelter, veterinarian, or being set free) is quite considerable.Many of the reasons for re-homing reported in this study were reasons that may be easily resolved through affordable, accessible avenues for veterinary care, housing and supplies.Knowing that some that relinquish to shelters report they would retain their pet if they could access help [10] (in review), this data points to the opportunity to explore programs and processes that reach pet owners both at the time of re-homing, but also ideally before that time to best avert the need for re-homing and increase retention.
This study was subject to several limitations, many of which are common to telephone surveys that collect data retrospectively.We experience a relatively high number of telephone numbers for which we were unable to make contact, even with multiple attempts per number, and we have no data to serve as a basis for estimating how those not contacted might differ in terms of their experiences re-homing pets.Given the 5-year look back period, it is possible that some respondents were not able to accurately recall the reasons for re-homing.Also, some respondents may have been more likely to report socially acceptable reasons for re-homing (such as "allergies") and less likely to report those that might appear less acceptable (such as "new person in the household did not like pet").The concept of re-homing was difficult for some respondents to understand and there was initial confusion for some of these respondents.Because the survey was not designed to collect data on each individual animal that was re-homed together, we excluded data on respondents who re-homed both dogs and cats at the same time (N = 5).This small number of excluded respondents, however, would not have impacted the overall conclusions.b.Finding someone who is known for providing good care to pets c.Finding a new home for the pet quickly and easily d.Finding someone who will pay money to have your pet e. Making sure your pet will not be put to sleep or euthanized unnecessarily f.Finding someone with other pets to keep your pet company g.Finding someone with the financial means to care for your pet now and in the future h.Having someone else screen and choose a new owner for your pet i. Finding

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Breakdown of respondents who did or did not own pets and did or did not re-home them in the past 5 years.

12 . 13 .
IF DID NOT RELINQUISH TO SHELTER/RESCUE ORG (Q10≠3): At any point, did you talk to someone at shelter or rescue organization about your decision to find someone new to care for your pet?Here are some reasons that other people have given for why they had to give up a pet.Thinking about the dog or cat you had to give up most recently, which of the following reasons were part of why you decided to give up that pet?I will read you the list and you can tell me yes or no for each.PROMPT AS NEEDED:Was that one of the reasons that you decided to give up your pet? or family health troubles b.Could not afford the costs involved in having a pet c.Divorce or separation from a spouse d.A new person who joined the household did not like or get along with the pet e.A death in the family f.Arrival of a new baby in the household g.Lack of time to care for or spend with the pet h.You or another member of the household was allergic to the pet i. Landlord did not allow pets j.Didn't have enough space for the pet k.Pet had problematic behavior like destruction of your home or furnishings or was too loud l.Pet displayed aggressive behavior toward people or other pets m.Pet grew larger than expected n.Pet had health problems you were unable to handle j.Some other reason (please specify: _________________________) 14.IF YES TO MORE THAN ONE ABOVE (Q13): And which of the following would you say was the main reason why you had to give up your pet? IF THEY ONLY SAID "YES" TO ONE ABOVE, PROGRAM TO RECORD THAT ANSWER HERE.RANDOMIZE 1-13; SHOW ITEMS FOR WHICH THEY SAID YES ABOVE (Q13a-n) = 1. 1 Personal or family health troubles 2 Could not afford the costs involved in having a pet 3 Divorce or separation from a spouse 4 A death in the family 5 Arrival of a new baby in the household 6 Lack of time to care for or spend with the pet 7 You or another member of the household was allergic to the pet 8 A new person who joined the household did not like or get along with the pet