The Reasons Why People Abandon Pets and Animal Shelters

• Moving and cannot take the pet with us. In most cases this is the result of people moving into a place where the landlord wouldn’t allow pets. One cannot help but wonder what they would do with their children if they decided to move into a place that didn’t allow kids.

• Pet was owned by a child who is not caring for it. Typically adults must be present when a pet is purchased or adopted, they put their own names on the sales paper or adoption paper. In this way they are accepting responsibility for the pet themselves, and by then giving this responsibility to a child they are not acting in the animals best interest. If a parent is not willing to assume some, or all, of the duties to care for the pet, they should not be getting it in the first place. That said, if the parent isn’t going to be responsible, how can they expect their child to?

• Allergies. This is a feeble, but common, reason for getting rid of a pet. People fail to look into alternatives, such as discussing medications with their doctor. Almost thirty years ago my sister wanted a Keeshond, a fluffy, highly allergy causing dog. She was able to keep one because she received regular allergy shots, and I know allergy medications have been drastically improved since then.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveparker/29855586/

• The dog became destructive. Nearly always this is human error. Dogs dig, bark, and destroy things, out of boredom. The smarter the breed the more likely it will be destructive if its mental needs are not met. Basically if your dog is destructive it needs to you give it something better to do.

• The cat is not using its litter box. There are many reasons cats fail to use their litter box. Some of these reasons include the fact the cat was declawed, wrong choice of litter, poor placement of the litter box, or often a urinary tract infection, something a veterinarian could easily clear up. See below for a link to help with these and other problems.

• The dog got too big. People often get cute pups on a whim, and really are not prepared for the full size of the dog. A general rule of thumb is that pups with big paws, will grow into large dogs. You got bigger didn’t you?

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bossco/3381523150/

• Kept a kitten/puppy, got rid of mom. How sad. The animal which was once their pet became a mother and suddenly is no longer welcome in their lives. The saddest thing of all is that pets over one year of age (the mothers) have the hardest time finding homes.

• It has no manners. This happened often with dogs. People seemed to think they could get a pup, not do anything with it, and it would grow into a respectable adult. Our shelter even offered 50% off Obedience lessons, but people ignorantly thought they could train the dog themselves. In short people who think dogs learn by osmosis should not get dogs.

• It’s too much work. All that brushing and so forth. Mostly this shows lack of thought or planning, of course pets are work. This is a big reason why pets should not be purchased on a whim, or given as gifts. Think of how many times you brush your own hair in a day, why is it such a big deal to brush your pet once a week?

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynnefeatherstone/442025154/

• It clawed up the furniture! Kittens claw, it is their nature. People who do not want their furniture clawed, or their kids clawed, should not get a kitten. Adult cats, particularly of some breeds such as Persians, and Himalayans, are less claw aggressive. Or people can get cats who are already declawed (in areas where it is legal). Providing cat furniture or scratching posts lets a cat be a cat.

• We don’t have time for it. Shouldn’t you have thought of this before? Puppies in particular need a lot of time for house-training. It should not be such a hard thing not to know how much time you will have for a pet before getting one.

• We cannot afford to keep it. Typically people can afford to keep their pets, they have just chosen to spend their money on other things, like a computer, Internet, cell phone, and so forth. I kept 4 healthy cats while working part time for minimum wage.   If you think the pet is costly for you to keep, imagine how costly it is for the shelter?

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/superfem/1851596629/

• Got pregnant. Pets are dumped all the time because their owner got pregnant. Huh? Do older kids get dumped because of a new baby? Cats do not smother babies, that is an urban myth, and 100% preventable by shutting the door. With nine months to socialize a dog to children, even a large dog should not be an issue. Besides studies show kids who grow up in homes with pets have fewer cases of asthma. Some women were actually told by a doctor to get rid of their cat because of a parasite known as toxoplasmosis. This is rare and preventable by using gloves when cleaning the litter, or simply by washing ones hands afterwards. There are many factors that have to come into play in order for a cat to even have this parasite, (eg. They have to be exposed to an infected mouse) which they only shed when first exposed to it. All in all pregnancy is not a good reason to get rid of another family member.

• Getting a new pet, don’t want this one. I one time had a family relinquish an older Pekingese dog with the reason that they were getting a new puppy. Pretty sad huh?

• I only like them when they are kittens/pups! Oh yes, some people only like their pets when they are small and cute, they dump them when they are adults. I even had a lady apply to adopt 2 kittens, she said she would have to get rid of them when they became cats because she only liked kittens.

• Landlord caught us with a pet we were not allowed. Keeping a pet when one is not allowed is not being fair to the pet at all, because when caught the pet is older and less adoptable.

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/sneakerdog/2495008449/

• Surprise litter. There are no such things as accidents. A spayed pet does not produce an unwanted litter. Cats and dogs can be spayed while pregnant. Sound harsh? In the USA alone several million kittens and pups are euthanized every year because more are born than there are homes for. On the whole though, I would rather people bring unwanted litters to the shelter rather than trying to rehome the little ones on their own. Most people do not have the ability to screen potential new owners and as such we see more animals in shelters, or worse. Many “Free to Good Home” pets are resold to research labs, to read more about what happens to “Free to Good Home” Kittens, click here. Shelters can also monitor to make sure these animals get spayed or neutered so they do not continue to add to the problem.

Another note is that many people lie when they bring their own pets to the shelter. They claim they found the pet and otherwise have no knowledge of it. This is a huge disservice to the pet, as some shelters never put stray animals up for adoption. It also makes the pets life worse since the staff are not even given its name, its likes or dislikes. As somebody who worked for a shelter and tried to help animals, this was one of the worse examples of cruelty. For an actual story where this happened, click here.

It is important to realize that animal shelters work in the best interest of the pets and public.  They have better resources to helping pets find good homes.  If a person really must get rid of a pet for any reason, even stupid ones, they should be honest about it to the shelter, so the shelter can do the best to help the pet.  Bringing pets to an animal shelter is more responsible than dumping it or passing a problem pet onto somebody else.

If you have enjoyed this link, please visit your local shelter and donate today.

Related Links

Causes and Solutions to Cats not Using their Litter Boxes

Dealing with a Destructive Dog

Before getting your Child a Pet

Pets for People with Allergies

Good News for Cat Lovers with Allergies

Myths about Animal Shelters