At our recent Maddie’s® Pet Adoption Days, the nation’s largest free pet adoption event, over 16,000 dogs and cats found homes in over 500 communities across the country. However, many animal advocates worry that free adoptions result in unhappy endings for the pets. The ASPCA has added yet more data to the growing body of evidence supporting fee-waived adoptions with a case study conducted at the Edmonton Humane Society.
Conducted from November 2011 to February 2013, the study looked at 344 adoptions conducted during special promotions, comparing free and paid adoptions directly to each other.
From their results:
- There was no statistical difference in post-adoption veterinary care received by fee-waived and non fee-waived cats. Regardless of fee status, most adopters brought their cats for follow-up veterinary care.
- There was no statistical difference between fee-waived and non fee-waived adopters when it came to retaining cats into the future. In other words, fee-waived cats were just as likely to remain in their homes as non fee-waived cats.
- More than 80 percent of the people who participated in the fee-waived study said they “strongly agree” that EHS considers cats to be valuable and that they would adopt from EHS again. This is important information for shelters to have to alleviate fears that the public will get a false impression that fee-waived cats are not valued.
Also of interest:
Free Pet Adoptions: Study Results
The Truth About Free Cat Adoptions