Shown above: LJ (MCAS ID# 105585) on holiday sale with separation anxieties from two careless adoptions. ----------- Shelters across the country are increasing their “free adoption” marketing, especially during the holiday season. This development, similar to the “free to good home” ads on Craigslist, presents what some believe are grave risks to the animals and reflect an uncaring effort to increase shelters’ “live release” rates in order to create an appearance of progress. To those expressing these concerns, the ASPCA, Maddie’s Fund, and many local shelters report reassuringly that “recent studies” demonstrate that “free adoption promotions may increase adoptions without compromising the quality of the animal’s life.” Is that fact or a sales pitch to raise live release rates? These studies promoted as evidence of “no harm done” are far from definitive. One, “Should Dogs and cats be given as gifts?” (published October 16, 2013 by Emily Weiss et al.) is a secondary analysis of data collected for a different purpose and is based upon responses from 223 (out of a pool of 1006) respondents who had received their pets as gifts. From this subset Ms. Weiss concluded that “receiving a dog or cat as a gift was not associated with impact on self-perceived love/attachment, or whether the dog or cat was still in the home.” The responses offered no information about abilities to care for an animals’ needs. They also provided no basis for extrapolating from individuals receiving animals as gifts from friends or other family members to the public responding to bargain opportunities at the many shelters with inadequate adoption screening. A highly promoted Maddie's Fund study, “Outcome of pets adopted during a waived-fee adoption event: Maddie’s Matchmaker Adoptathon” (S. L, MacArthur et al, Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program, College of Veterinary Medicine University of Florida) in 2011 concluded that the “vast majority” of pets adopted without a fee remained in the home 6-12 months after adoption, with most respondents reporting strong attachments and the provision of veterinary care. This was a “questionnaire survey” based upon self-report with a return rate of 57%, well below what is necessary to permit broad generalization. Most researchers will caution that any research study is limited in its applicability. It depends upon the study and its demographics in order for findings to transfer to another population. You can’t squeeze into someone else’s party dress and call it a “fit.” Shelters can, however, use even the most marginal research results in their “live release” competitions for awards and grants, in this case to justify give-away animal adoptions. Animals don’t fill out satisfaction surveys and most shelters don’t conduct follow up research on their own adoption practices. In Multnomah County, Oregon, the shelter’s end of year give away, “Home for the Holidays,” (the adoption fee is the day of the month) is a careless way to avoid the many creative ways to promote adoption without waiving fees while still providing the screening needed to assure that the adopter has the ability to provide care that the animals deserve. The fact that this has been an event for 5 years running is meaningless. The longer a bad habit is continued doesn’t make it a “good” habit. It is just another effort to distract from researching the question of whether for this shelter in this community does this really benefit homeless animals or just the bottom line? Without that careful screening and in-house research the “free to good home” promotions present grave risks to the animals and, sadly, reflect an uncaring effort to increase “live release” rates and create an appearance of progress. “For free” isn’t really free: it is subsidized too often by the lives of the animals. ________________________________ MCAS Holiday Advertisement: https://www.scribd.com/document/367502034/MCAS-Holiday-Adoption-Special-Advertisement?secret_password=4WuR7iCo6ZoYPm5GXrtb The results of a Maddie's Fund research on free pet adoptions: https://www.scribd.com/document/367502604/Outcome-of-Pets-Adopted-During-a-Waived-fee-Adoption-Event-Maddies-Matchmaker-Adoptathon-SL-MacArthur-Et-Al?secret_password=IgGd5fFuJ0m8nn8WNPFW A Study that tentatively supports that cats and dogs given as gifts to family or friends are just as valued as if a fee were paid: https://www.scribd.com/document/367502959/Should-Dogs-and-Cats-Be-Given-as-Gifts-Emily-Weiss-Et-Al?secret_password=qjyiK4G9uv9CyuOQG9tw