ArticleScientific reports2022
The impact of returning a pet to the shelter on future animal adoptions.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Evaluation of Factors Impacting Shelter Cats' Personalities.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Trends in Intake, Length of Stay and Outcome Data in a Portuguese Animal Shelter Between 2018 and 2024.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Rehoming Laboratory Rats: Exploring Perceptions of Rehomers, Animal Technicians, and Biomedical Researchers.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2026Article
- People and Pets in the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Cost-of-Living Crisis: Identifying Trends in the Intake, Adoption and Return of Companion Animals During Times of Uncertainty.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- The role of breed and personality descriptions in influencing perceptions of shelter dog adoptability.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2025Article
- When and Why Cats Are Returned to Shelters.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Shelter dog behavior after adoption: Using the C-BARQ to track dog behavior changes through the first six months after adoption.PloS one · 2023Article
- Companion animal adoption and relinquishment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Households with children at greatest risk of relinquishing a cat or dog.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2023Article
- Returning a Shelter Dog: The Role of Owner Expectations and Dog Behavior.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Unsuccessful animal adoptions are stressful for many owners and may reduce their willingness to adopt again. The goal of this study was to determine the proportion of return owners who adopted post-return and investigate return characteristics that affected the likelihood of post-return adoption. We analyzed adoption records from a South Carolina animal shelter between 2015 and 2019 (n = 1999) using a logistic regression model including post-return adoption (binary) and return reason, species, animal sex and age. We found one in 10 individuals adopted from the shelter within 12 months of return, and post-return adoption was associated with return reason and species. Returns due to owner-related reasons, such as the owner's health (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.07, 0.57) or unrealistic expectations (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.19, 0.94) were associated with significantly lower odds of post-return adoption. Owners who returned due to the animal's health exhibited four times greater odds of post-return adoption compared with behavioral returns (OR 4.20, 95% CI 2.37, 7.45). Our findings highlight the value of ensuring adopters' expectations are aligned with the reality of ownership and minimizing adopter-animal behavioral incompatibility as unsuccessful animal adoptions can reduce the owner's willingness to adopt again and may affect the adopter's relationship with the shelter.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.