On a recent Community Conversations call, Return to Owner (RTO) expert, Gina Knepp, posed the question, “What if we call RTO something else?”  

When we make changes to the names of our organizations and programs, or shift the language that we use in messaging, there can be a transformational effect. By simply changing our own terminology, there is a potential impact on how we and our community view a topic such as Return to Owner. It’s the same reason we recommend changing a pet’s name and their biography after they’ve been waiting for a home for awhile. It’s the same pet, they’re just seen in a completely different light. 

When Knepp posed the thought-provoking question of renaming RTO, many in the animal welfare industry chimed in and suggested Return to Home as the new name for RTO, and we thought that there was no better name than that. Let’s get those pets back home, where they already have a family that loves them! 

Keep your eyes peeled for information about a national Return to Home grant challenge, coming soon!