© 2012 ASPCA ®. All Rights Reserved. Big Dog Relinquishment…Why are they relinquished? Emily...

© 2012 ASPCA®. All Rights Reserved.

Big Dog Relinquishment…Why are they relinquished?

Emily Weiss, Ph.D. CAAB

Vice President Shelter Research and Development

ASPCA

2


3


WHO IS AT RISK OF ENTERING SHELTERS? AND… WHO IS

LESS LIKELY TO LEAVE ALIVE?

4


5


6


WHY?

7


Big Dog Relinquishment Survey• Survey developed by Dr.s Slater, Zawistowski, Scarlett and Weiss

• one on one interview to delve into the reasons for relinquishment and what could have allowed them to keep the dog in the home

•Published in Animals (4) 2014

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Survey designed to get at the actionable…

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Washington DC – The first data set

• Data collected late summer 2012

•88 dogs in the sample

• 51% are reported as or appear to be ‘bully type’ dogs

•60% of the dogs were obtained for free while 15% were bought for between $100-$200

• 5 dogs in the sample were reported to be purebred

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Vet Visits in the last year

none once three four 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Series1

11


12


Breed

er

Friend

Shelte

r

Neighb

or

Born

in ho

me

Found

as

stra

y

Pet s

tore

fam

ily gift

inter

net

stra

nger

Craig'

s Lis

t

Previo

us O

wner

Farm

er's

mar

ket

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

perc

Where did you obtain the dog?

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Has the dog been S/N?

male female total0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

No

Yes

total

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What they said…

• Loveable• Loves to be hugged

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What they said…

• Loves Kids• Loves to play

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What they said…

• He Loves to have his belly rubbed

17


Changing Perspective

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<=1 week 2 weeks to 1 month 2 months and over0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Bully

NonBully

How long have you been thinking of bringing him to the shelter?

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Could something have helped?

Bully NotBully0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

No

Yes

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What could have helped?

dog/

pet f

riend

ly ap

t/hou

sing

fund

s fo

r tra

ining

dog/

pet f

riend

ly te

mpo

rary

apt

/hou

sing

fund

s fo

r vet

car

e

affo

rdab

le pe

t-frie

ndly

hous

ing

finan

cial h

elp

help

with tr

aining

legal/

leg/in

sura

nce

issue

s

help/

find

low-c

ost w

ith m

edica

l car

e

affo

rdab

le do

ggie

dayc

are/

pets

itter

tem

pora

ry fu

nds

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

21


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NYC Data

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A few details…

• Data collected 2012 and 2013

•77 dogs in sample – 15 are not bully type

• 27 reported pure bred bully types

• 17 of those that owned the bully types paid $100 or more for their dogs – with 6 paying $400 or more

• 30 dogs reported to be purebred

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Where did you obtain your dog?

Friend Family stranger Neighbor Born in Home

Breeder Internet/online

breeder

Shelter Found as stray

Pet store gift 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

25


NotBully Bully0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

N

Y

Has the dog been S/N?

26


Breed by where obtained

0

4

8

12

Breeder/online Breeder/PetStore

Family/Friend/Born in Home/Gift

stranger

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What could have helped you keep the dog?

space/yard pet friendly housing temporary boarding training help dog sitter/walker0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Chart Title

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More what could have helped…

free/

low c

ost b

oard

ing

free/

low c

ost t

empo

rary

boa

rding

free/

low c

ost t

raini

ng

free/

low c

ost v

et c

are

free/

low c

ost d

og d

ayca

re

free/

low c

ost d

og fo

od0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

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Comparing the Cities

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Bully type vs non bully type

Total dogs NonBully Bully0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

NYC

DC

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Purebred in NYC vs DC

NYC DC0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

N

Y

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Drivers for relinquishment

People Issues

Moving Landlord Issues

Behavior Issues

Dog Health/Expenses

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

NYC

DC

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Busting a few myths…

• A large percentage of those relinquishing had a household income higher than 34k

•The majority of relinquishers at least completed high school

•Most relinquishers had been considering relinquishment for at least a week

• Cultural ID did not impact likelihood to S/N

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Changing Perspective

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© 2012 ASPCA ®. All Rights Reserved. Big Dog Relinquishment…Why are they relinquished? Emily...

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Transcript of © 2012 ASPCA ®. All Rights Reserved. Big Dog Relinquishment…Why are they relinquished? Emily...