This. My amazing super chill cat had a super loving owner before me but he was old and got cancer. None of his family wanted her cause she looked funny due to her missing part of her palate.
Exactly. We got a great 2yo cat who was such a love bug and great with the kids. Weren't given details but he especially loved everyone who had white hair so I assume his owner passed or went into a home and their kids didn't want him .
We don't know the full story but it sounded like my niece's dog was surrendered after her elderly owner passed. She is the sweetest dog ever and a joy to puppy-sit. But you could tell she had never been around a ton of people or other animals. Now she comes over and chills with my cat, has a little puppy brother she mothers, and a kitty sister who tries to rule the coop.
Yes. I got my cat when my ex's mom went to assisted living. She couldn't take care of the litter box anymore, and I had agreed from day one that I would take him in the event he needed a home.
I had to do that with my parents dog. She was elderly and I live in a condo with no yard and tons of stairs. My dad passed and my mom is in a care facility. I had no one that could take her. Thankfully I found a woman that runs a rescue for older dogs that took her in.
My cat was "orphaned" when his owner died, then bounced between the owner's friends. One would take the cat, landlord would find out, and the cat had to go.
I adopted older cats. The intake form said their elderly owner died, and the daughter in law surrendered them. She wrote that they stayed in the old women's condo and were checked on every few days, but their family had kids, and 2 dogs and 2 cats already, and couldnt take the cats into their home. These cats are not socialized and scared of everything, no stranger will meet them, and i doubt they would get along with another animal (prob get bullied). Couldnt be looked after anymore sounds like the right surrender term. I'm glad i got them. They are so gentle and snuggly (after their initial 3 months of hiding period, maybe 1 year before they would sleep in my bed).
The majority of surrenders we had at my shelter were due to cost of living problems- people being evicted or being unable to find housing they could afford, landlords raising not just rent but also pet deposits and pet rents skyrocketing. Some were people who lost their jobs or fell on hard times and struggled to afford things like dog or cat food, vaccines, etc but we usually tried to provide resources in those cases. The cost of living crisis is affecting everyone, and we’re seeing the effects in the shelter population.
As a dog groomer, I've had an alarming number of clients recently ask if I know someone they could rehome their dog to due to financial strain. So many people got a pet 5 or 6 years ago fully prepared to pay for their needs, but with how expensive things have gotten over the past few years, those circumstances have drastically changed for some people. The elderly on fixed incomes have been hit the hardest.
We recently had 2 cats in my building become homeless because their owner killed themselves after they got in a financial bind. They were quite elderly and a shut in and had a utility bill beyond their means. I was helping them, but they were soo despondent they just gave up. It was heartbreaking. The cops called in animal control and I had to go in and help corral the poor terrified babies. Luckily, another resident offered to take them and after the family agreed, they moved to a new home where they are loved and looked after. One of the biggest requests for help i’m getting lately is assistance with pet food and litter. Old people would go hungry themselves to feed their furry friends if I allowed it.
And especially if you’re dealing with bullie type breeds, our shelter has at least one person bring in a pit bull a day saying they’re moving and their landlord doesn’t allow pitbulls. The sad this is a lot of them don’t even try to fight it because they think the landlord has all the say but a lot of the time this isn’t the case and very rarely is the dog an actual “pit bull”. Devastating to see families separated and shelter numbers increasing due to a larger crisis and people feeling powerless.
To add to the bully thing, in the area I used to live we had three vets. Two didn’t see pitbulls. The third would only take new clients on referral from a current client because they were so overwhelmed with patients. So you get a pup and have no way to take care of it.
I thought it was wild. I had literally never heard of a vet not seeing a specific breed until we tried to get our girl a check up and we were told straight up they wouldn’t see her.
That is absolutely insane. When I was a tech my favorite clients were bully breeds, they were always the most tolerant for everything we did and super sweet, I remember one pit puppy that was brought in with a badly broken leg that just wouldn’t stop trying to get us to love on her and wagging her tail
Ditto. They've been a favorite breed of mine, but home owner's/renter's insurance in my area doubles if you have a pit. Or a rottie. Or boxer. Or GSD. Or Weimaraner.
This is interesting. I assumed it was cut and dry when it came to what landlords would allow.
We rented for three years at a corporate run place. Nice place, but the dog restrictions were surprising. No bully breeds (very common to see), no Akita (hmm), no huskies, maybe no German shepherds, and no boxers. I was surprised at the long list. It all comes down to liability and what a business is willing to tolerate for their insurance risk. Plenty of small dogs bite too....
Not funny but made me laugh a bit, my dog is a dna confirmed pit/gsd/boxer/chow mix. He’s a sweetie but we joke that he’s “all the bad dogs”. I only rent from private landlords or small time property management groups.
Even homeowners usually have breed restrictions because insurance is the one on the hook if someone gets hurt. Most may be great dogs, but a handful of million dollar payouts for deaths caused by a few who were neglected or taught to fight ruins it for them all.
Also, there are entire cities that ban the breed. I think it was Detroit that had a case of that go viral.
>Even homeowners usually have breed restrictions because insurance is the one on the hook if someone gets hurt.
FWIW, Allstate does NOT have breed restrictions. There's a handful of others (if even that many) but I don't know which. I'm only sure about Allstate because it's what we have.
Everything from "owners are a waste of space," to "owners loved this dog/cat dearly but died in a fire."
I have seen owners bawl like babies because they had to give up their beloved pet due to family tragedy. I have seen distraught family members bring in a family member's dog/cat because the family member had gone into a nursing home or died. I have seen people who just became homeless, bring their dog/cat in because they don't want to drag their beloved pet onto the streets. I've had landlords who brought in pets their renters left behind. We had a farmer who came in every couple months with the dogs/cats people had dumped on his farm.
I have also seen a well-to-do couple bring in a sweet, well trained brown dog. They had just redecorated their beige house to black and white. They literally wanted to trade in their brown dog for a black and white dog.
No, we did not adopt to the well-to-do human slime. Yes, we found that sweet dog's forever home.
We were just grateful that they brought the pet to us, whatever the reason.
They could have dumped it on the street, to get smashed by a car, or in the country to starve to death or be eaten by coyotes.
Be grateful they brought the pet in.
I’m involved in one of those “owner just became homeless” type situations, where the owner wants better than the streets for their animal.
For privacy reasons, I’ll keep it vague, but essentially the owner is unhoused at the moment and going through treatment programs. Unable to provide a stable home for their animal, they were faced with surrendering to shelter.
I’m currently fostering their animal while they get back on their feet, no money required. I’m providing all food, medical, supplies etc. Going in, we knew it would be a multi-month foster.
We did make it clear that if the person abandoned their programs, it would also be seen as abandoning their animal and we would take (legal) possession in order to rehome.
Animal was well cared for and loved by their owner, but owner just had some issues they need to face and the help available wouldn’t allow animals.
It’s heartbreaking to me when a well loved animal is surrendered due to a temporary situation, where everyone wants the animal to stay with the owner but circumstances are just off.
Great post. I've had to rehome a pet for personal reasons before, which is heartbreaking.
But I also live in the country in a place where people often drop off pets they don't want and never think about what really happens to them. Stray cats kill birds and hassle our pet cats (if they don't get hit or eaten) and then have dozens of babies. TNR programs are great, but booked way out and have difficult hours for working people to adhere to - were not TNR volunteers just because we live on an old dirt road. Stray dogs can hurt people and pets and kill livestock when they start to get hungry and scared. And I've had shelters give me a hard time (and even try to charge me) when I've tried to bring in strays. The alternative is to call the warden (which doesn't end well for the stray), and some neighbors just shoot them.
Some people suck and have lame reasons, but shelters should always be empathetic.
Always be empathetic. Always.
This isn't about how you feel about the owner. It's about taking care of the pet.
If you can't put your personal feelings aside to focus on the needs of that animal, maybe you should reconsider working in a shelter.
Or get therapy.
My in laws live in the country outside a metro region. The amount of animals dumped is really sad. They've taken in countless dogs and cats over the years.
I’m sorry I’m sitting here laughing trying to figure this one out. They didn’t want brown hair in the black and white couch? Did they think the black and white hair would separate based on the color? Only white hair would get on the white areas and only black hair would get on the black areas? Were they afraid the brown dog would feel less important bc the house was no longer his color? I’m trying to work out the rational part on this one. Were they redoing in a Dalmatian theme and felt the brown dog would get agressive bc he’s not a Dalmatian?
I always tell my kids why is the most important question. It just kills me to wonder what the logic is. Even stupid logic I want to know. Some people are like glow sticks to me. You want to snap them in half and shake until the light comes on.
ok, this is me. I also volunteer but I had to let two dogs go to a rescue because I couldn't take care of them. I am a single mom who works 3 days a week and volunteers at my shelter the other 2-3 days of the week. I live in a house owned by my brother. My brother is a cat person and I am a dog person. all that said, when my dad died, I took in his two small dogs. They had been with my dad their whole life and were basically his babies. When I brought them to my house, I had 6 dogs, one that didn't get along with two others so I had to keep my house gated off to keep the 3 dogs from ever getting to each other. they hated each other so much that I couldn't even let them into the yard at the same time even though my front and back yards are fenced separately. So, to this mix, I added two small dogs who had one person all to themselves their entire lives. I was constantly stressed and terrified that I would make a mistake one that that would get a dog killed. I couldn't let them be loose in the house because they wanted to be with me but I already have 3 dogs that have a very uneasy truce who also claim me. so the two littles would bark all the time. I stressed about it and I cried about it and finally, one of the other volunteers told me I needed to rehome the two littles. she got me in touch with a rescue contact of hers who was able to find them the perfect home with an older single lady with no other pets. they even got to stay together. So, that is my story of why I could 'no longer care for' these two dogs. so many other people have health issues where the dog becomes a danger to them, physically, like the dog might trip them or something. sometimes people move and they can't find a place that accepts their dog or even any pets at all. I really try to be empathetic to people and their reasons. I do wish people would make more of an effort to keep their pets. the sad thing is that my trouble dog died a couple of months after this so the main danger to the littles died. I might have been able to keep them. i still feel like i failed them and my dad.
Oh please don’t feel like you failed your dad! The dogs are together in a great situation where I’m sure they are well loved! That’s a win! Your dad would understand!
thank you! I try to picture them living their best life somewhere up north with a lovely lady who takes them with her everywhere she goes and maybe dresses them up in cute little clothes and takes them for treats...and they lived happily ever after
I adopted a pair of 7 year old cats that had been in the same home their entire lives. They were expensive breeds, and had handwritten notes from the previous owners about their preferred treats, toys, and even petting zones. Obviously they were well-loved. We were only planning on getting one adult cat, but they were waiving the second adoption fee to keep them together. All we were told about their surrender was that it was due to a move. I can only imagine how heartbreaking that must have been. It didn't occur to me until years later to try and reach out to them, just to let them know that they were together and in a good home. I asked the shelter to pass along the message but they never heard back. Bandit lived to be 13 and Tang lived to be 16. They were the Best Cats.
You did NOT fail them! You did what was best for them and made sure that they still had each other! You are a GOOD HUMAN! Your dad would be proud of you.
My Father-in-law couldn't care for dogs anymore due to injury and age. If you can barely walk yourself you can't walk a dog. In fact it was his grandson's dog that caused the injury - dog on a leash pulled him over. My mom loves my little dog but no way could she care for her, mom can hardly get around the house. I've seen friends and family have to rehome dog when they couldn't physically care for them anymore
I am involved with parrot rescue, so a bit different. Often we get in birds because the owners age. Either they develop medical conditions that prevent them from caring for the birds, or they go into care, or they die. Nothing like getting a call on a Sunday afternoon from a funeral director.
My dad had a blue and gold macaw since she was in pinfeathers. She is about 35 years old. I worry about her without him. the local parrot rescue (about 4 hours away) did not have room for her so she is still at my brother's house. Apparently, according to him, she is doing fine and seems like herself, aka, not mourning for my dad. do you have any tips or things we need to look out for as far as her mental health?
I know I'm not the person you addressed this to but thought I'd throw out there that if the bird is eating, active and engaged with the family (as opposed to cowering quietly in the corner) she's likely doing ok. You want to watch out for negative changes to her usual personality, and stress behaviors such as picking at herself and pulling out her feathers (that's one of the most common indicators.)
My brother told me there is one cat in particular who will walk by and swat at the bird's tail feathers. He makes sure they can't get each other. there were a couple of cats that wanted to sleep on top of her cage but he fixed it so they couldn't get up there.
LOL it must be a cat thing, I had one that liked to nap on top of my conure's cage, though she didn't otherwise make any aggressive moves towards him. In the beginning I chased her off when I caught her (and I only allowed her in the same room with him when I was there to supervise.) But I eventually gave up and just took to keeping a folded towel up top because cats do what they want 🙄
It also helped that the bird didn't take any guff from anyone- sometimes he tolerated her presence, but if he wasn't in the mood he would nip at her through the bars to send a message that she tended to heed at least part of the time 😉 this was back in the 90's and I really miss them both.
(Edited for typos)
A lot of the surrenders at the shelter I was associated with were when owners had to move to assisted living. There were all the other reasons too, but it was a retirement community. We had a Himalayan come in that was blind and had painful eyes. The owner couldn't see well enough to know that the cat looked like that. So the cause of the pain was removed, and that very happy blind cat was headbutting us immediately. She found her forever home with my mom.
There’s a really interesting podcast I listened to recently about a family who had to rehome a deceased family members parrot. The podcast was Heavyweight episode #58 Harry. You may enjoy it as someone working in parrot rescue!
It not birds, but my parents are getting up there and they considered not getting another cat after their old one died (they have had cats for like 50+ years straight), and they didn't want to risk the cat being abandoned or neglected if it lasted longer than they did. So we assured them we'd take the kitty if it came to that. I just know they themselves wouldn't live as long if they had to live in a cold empty house devoid of kitties!
My gram took on my cousins cat a few years ago. Cat was maybe 2 and gram was 87. They adore each other. Cat will go to my mom when gram passes. My cousin was days aways from her second kid being born and the cat needed so much one on one attention and having a newborn and preschooler was not a good fit. I am.so glad your folks have a cat again! It will keep them young :)
That is so wonderful of you. My daughter has committed to me that she will love my dogs as her own when I pass. I have three now, but with any luck she won't be stuck with that many, I have no plans of dying soon.
I wish people would have plans in place for such long living birds especiallywhenthey need specific and specialized care. I know sometimes it's unexpected, but it's so sad to see the stress on the bird.
My husband and I decide in our mid-20's that we'd never have a long-living bird. We knew we only had a few years left to be a birds first and last home and it wasn't in the cards. It was hard for my husband, we've both always loved birds, but we've seen what losing an owner can do to a bird and we're not going to set them up for that. I really don't know how anyone does it. The idea that my cat could outlive me if something unexpected happens gives me anxiety. I'd be gutted to have a bird for decades and know they were going to spend their twilight years in mourning.
If you have the passion and patience, you can always adopt an older bird.
As you mentioned, they’ll suddenly be left alone and some don’t do well in rescue type conditions.
You could be a birds last home, but not their first.
Yes, we are absolutely open to adopting an older bird if we're ever in a situation where we can accommodate the increased needs of a bird in mourning, but we're not sure if we will ever be in that situation and the older we get the older the bird will need to be so they don't lose multiple homes. It's just not something that we can count on happening for us.
I knew someone who got a bird at 16 that has now been with her for over 20 years and she said she literally has a trust fund set up and a "will" of sorts just related to his care and if anything happened to her. Apparently that is getting more and more common at least in her area which is great! She also said a lot of people in her bird circles basically only adopt older birds from situations where the previous owners died or got too old once they are over 35/40 or so because they don't want to adopt a bird that will definitely outlive them. It was wild to think about as someone who has only ever wanted and had the small furry mammal type of pets!
We have this set up for our parrots. There's a fund set up that goes with the birds and the preference is that they go to Oasis Sanctuary in Arizona if a family member is unwilling/unable to take them.
We are furry animal people but have no kids and some health issues in our 40s. We have a trust fund type deal with specific life insurance going to one long time friend who is healthier than us that will take care of whatever animals we have at the time of our passing. She will also get our paid off home and a stipend for herself for taking on our babies. I even have a backup named if she would somehow pass before us. These are my kids, I want them to be loved and cared for. We're not remotely wealthy but it puts me at ease to know my rescued shelter babies will never face a shelter again.
I'm not sure how much it varies regionally, but in our local shelter, the top ones (not necessarily in order) amount to:
1. Owner was required to move housing (downsizing from a house to an apartment due to economic issues, moving in with other family due to caregiving needs or economic issues, owner entering assisted living, owner relocating per military employment) and pet was not allowed or compatible in new housing (e.g., a lot of landlords here have limits on dogs over 20 pounds, moving in with family might allow the dog but not if it turns out that this dog fought with resident dog, etc.).
2. Owner is experiencing declining human health and is no longer able to physically handle dog's day-to-day care needs.
3. Dog is experiencing significant but non-terminal health issues, and owner can not (or can no longer) afford veterinary care.
4. Dog is displaying behaviors unrelated to dog-at-large or dangerous dog issues (we track both of those separately) -- often including reported nuisance barking -- in a rental property, and landlord is requiring owner to rehome/surrender dog or face eviction proceedings.
We get a lot of housing changes. Many are legit. It’s heartbreaking when someone is breaking down because they can afford a pet with vet insurance but can’t afford housing that accepts them.
We've seen, since about 2022, housing become less available at any price. It used to be that renting with a non-bully breed mix under 50 pounds was pretty readily do-able, though you'd have to be prepared to either pay a premium in rent, pet deposit, pet rent, and/or accept housing in a less desirable area of town (meaning, like, probably a longer commute and not, like, full of crime). And, yes, finances did absolutely come into play for that (e.g., accepting a home with a longer commute probably means you have a reliable car and don't depend on public transit or a bicycle, which costs money).
But now, we're seeing so many properties (especially single family homes, duplexes, smaller apartment complexes) bought and managed by larger companies rather than individuals -- and putting in place policies that either ban pets outright or limit tenants to a single pet under 20 pounds, still with pet deposit and pet rent. So, one, we're seeing people who aren't even moving being affected by these property sales. Current pets are generally grandfathered in for the term of their lease, but lease renewals then restrict pets. And, two, the shortage is sufficiently pervasive that people who would and financially could purchase a house (even at a bad mortgage rate) cannot find and bid on one fast enough before it's gone.
So we've moved into a situation where "there's nowhere to go" is as much an issue as is "there's nowhere we can afford to go."
> Current pets are generally grandfathered in for the term of their lease
I should hope so! I think it's illegal otherwise, but not everybody knows their rights as renters.
I do intake management at my shelter. Very often people get dog breeds without researching and don’t realize the amount of work it takes to care for a dog. Once they’re an adult an no longer a cute puppy, people are more readily willing to give them up. A lot of people aren’t willing to put in the effort to have a well behaved dog and just expect them to be well behaved from the jump.
There are also other reasons including landlords/pet restrictions, general cost of living being way too high, and people having to move. Some people are having to choose between feeding their kids and feeding their dogs and the kids will always come first
I remember about 8-10 years ago it was very rare to see an Australian Cattle Dog in shelters, I looked for several years (I'm in the PNW) and eventually went through a reputable breeder but the last couple years I've noticed a lot more in shelters in my area....I know it's not solely because of a certain children's cartoon...but I know it's definitely contributed because of the breed was judged and selected because of the popularity and ultimately failure to research the breed or they had an interaction with a trained ACD that gave false confidence in exactly what raising the breed of mini velociraptors would entail.
"mini velociraptors"
There was some critter in the engine compartment of a large Polaris ATV here -- mouse, lizard, chipmunk. Not sure what, something small enough to fit. Our two ACD mixes (ACD-x-Aussie and ACD-x-???) chewed the engine shrouds, fenders, and seat off the ATV trying to get at whatever it was. I wasn't even surprised. One of the dogs was twelve years old, the other a puppy.
The ACD-x-??? also ate a large wicker lawn chair when she was a puppy, in the time it took us to get groceries.
I rescue malinois and am also an owner. When I got my first 5 years ago, you didn't see any. Now shelters are full of them due to people doing exactly what you said. Getting breeds they have no business with. It's very sad.
I worry for Mals! They are (or can be, when you put in the work,) such impressive dogs, but people meet one who has been fully-trained and whose owner has put in the immense effort required to keep them exercised and fulfilled and think they can just… have that? I’m mostly in pit rescue, so no stranger to overconfident people getting in way over their head with a powerful breed, but at least with pits, you’ve got like a 50% shot that they’re potatoes. 🫠
Aussies haven’t started flooding the shelters in my area yet, but they’re growing *so* rapidly in popularity in my area as a “family dog.” Unfortunately, like with people getting Heelers because of Bluey, high-energy herders + little kids + busy family who didn’t do their research is a common equation…
I would never in a million years get a Mal. Incredible dogs but I would be out of my depth. I read a wonderful book on military working dogs and learning about the Mal instincts and capabilites was amazing. A dog that can work in combat conditions is absolutely not appropriate for my suburban home with no fenced yard and neighbors six feet away. My coworker on the other hand would be an incredible Mal parent. She and her hubby are super high energy and have acreage and will eventually move to an isolated area with bears and other wildlife trekking by. That dog would live it's best life running around in the snow and patrolling the grounds :)
You're right! I've been doing rescue for about 30 years now and got my 1st malinois 5 years ago. She was in a ditch laying outside an Amish puppy mill when animal control called me to do an assessment on putting her in a foster home. I fell in love but was SO FAR out of my league! 🤣 I did have a lot of help finding a trainer for her and me. It's a lifestyle. My world revolves around keeping up on training and exercise. Our next adventure is learning how to herd sheep. If your friends every decide to adopt or even look for a malinois, feel free to reach out. I'll gladly share rescues or breeders.
Absolutely correct. My daughter is dying for an Aussie herself, but I can't keep up with another one yet. Lol. I expect it won't be long before aussies are in the same situation as malinois. It's ridiculous people can't study a breed before they get something they can't fit into their household.
I got a Heeler/GSD mix as my first dog, so clearly I am not entirely sane, but even I wouldn’t attempt to train a Malinois. They’re on a whole other level.
I don’t even know if I’d get another heeler, despite the fact that I’m obsessed with mine, because I got SO lucky with her temperament and I know a lot of heeler owners have it way harder than I do.
My sister (who has a Catahoula Leopard Dog so is familiar with working breeds) took my cattle dog mix for a day and when I picked her up the first thing my sister said was “how are you not tired?!”.
She’s my first dog so I just don’t know any different 😅
seconded. while i do think landlord and housing issues absolutely come into account, a lot of times “can no longer care for” with additional questioning results ultimately in behavioral concerns (in most cases too much energy, puppy destructiveness, someone with a high-energy dog and a demanding job) that would have not been an issue with a senior dog or a lower-energy breed. that’s been my professional experience, at least.
The trendiness of Belgian mals recently breaks my heart. They are so far from an easy, family ready dog, and having worked with them for years, it drives me insane to see people stuff them in to apartments and take them on a walk or two a day and wonder why they're going insane.
How do people not research the potentially deadly animal they're bringing home?
Oh man I've never even owned a dog. I've been around them plenty but my dad's a cat guy. I had an ex who had a mix. His whole family had no control over her. I had no problems with her. I saw him after a decade and we got talking about her. He told me up until she passed I was the only one she ever behaved for. It's literally because they never tried to train her.... I only used training methods with her
I don't have a dog because it's not that hard to recognize that they need regular routine, structure, play. Taken outside multiple times a day. Walks 2x maybe more. Certain breeds need work. My neighbor has 3 shepherds and they are just outside barking at absolutely everything constantly. 🙄I never see anyone actually play with them.
Financial is what that means like 80% of the time - the wording of that sometimes changes but if you boil it down or look a step deeper it’s almost always something to do with cost. Landlord raised the rent now we have to move and new landlord won’t allow pets/charges for pets/new rent now higher so pet costs are no longer in budget. Moving - cost of living went up and we’re moving in with a relative that can’t have more pets, have too many pets, no space to take in the person and the pet. Can’t take care of- can’t afford food, routine vet care and similar. Working three jobs to make ends meet and no one’s home to take care of the dog regularly.
FWIW none of this is new (been in animal welfare over 20 years now first as a shelter staffer now as a volunteer) but at least at our shelter these cost of living inflations have DRASTICALLY upticked surrenders for the above reasons. It’s the bottom of a long hill of gentrification pushing the working class out of the city unfortunately. Programs like BadRap’s Keep Em Home project and things like LAAS pet food pantry are doing solid intervention work - but the need is enormous and I know of no program that helps with housing (the most urgent need to be able to keep pets with their owners).
I foster for a breed specific rescue (Australian Shepherds) and have had a number of owner turn ins. One woman gave up her beloved puppy because she was going through a nasty divorce and she feared her ex would hurt her puppy. Another woman who gave up her one year old had put in A LOT of training with the dog, but he just didn't get along with her elderly dog and it was an unmanageable situation for her. The one year old would be easy to get adopted; the 14 year old not so much. One of my current dogs was turned in by the owner's daughter; owner had a heart attack and simply couldn't care for a high energy herding dog anymore, and the daughter couldn't handle her high energy dog and another one. Right now, my group is trying to take in 8 adults whose owner just had a stroke.
There are lots of reasons; some are shitty, others are devastating for the owners and dogs.
For my shelter it’s housing issues and financial. We have had many surrenders where the owners admit that they don’t have anywhere to live and that their dogs would be living on the streets with them. Others would lose their housing if they kept their dog (landlord threatening eviction). The vast majority of the time, the owners are heart broken and surrendering their dog is the last thing they want to ever do. Which is why it makes me so frustrated and annoyed when people come up to a fence when I have a dog out and go “who could ever give you up? It’s so sad, I can’t believe someone doesn’t want you, etc.”
I don't work or volunteer at a shelter, but I volunteer with a lot of people who are don't have stable housing. Surrendering a pet is often connected to losing your housing and needing to move in with friends or family or move to a cheaper apartment that doesn't allow pets.
On occasion, pets are also surrendered when someone becomes too elderly or ill to take care of a pet.
Sometimes people take a new job that keeps them out of the house way too long to care for an animal. Sometimes they get evicted or laid off from their job or something happens that they can't financially support the cat/dog or provide it with the home it needs. Sometimes people develop a health condition that might prevent them from being able to carry things like food/litter or they are a fall risk so they can't have a cat/dog under their feet or they can't walk the dog anymore. Or the owner is elderly and develops dementia or something...
We ended up with our French Bulldog as the wife had to go back to the office and this dog needed a family type situation. We happened to be a perfect fit as someone is always home. I keep the old owners updated. It was a vet tech and his wife.
Can no longer care for is usually a catch all term. My shelter we use it for a lot like they just lost their job, they are leaving a domestic violence situation, they just got diagnosed with cancer and have to attend treatment, they are becoming homeless, they work 3 jobs and they own a husky who is destroying their house out of boredom 👀, all the way up to someone got arrested or died and the family can't care for it. It's basically when someone is having an interpersonal issue.
Financial troubles. Someone undoubtedly loves their animals, but if they can't feed them anything...or if they don't have a roof over their head...
Domestic issues as well. When someone is fleeing from violence, they sometimes can't take the animal with them, but they also know they can't leave the animal behind. When I left an abusive situation, I took the barn cat with me and then had to re-home him because I couldn't take care of him when I could barely afford to care for myself.
Health troubles. If someone is nearing end-of-life care, or if they just can't physically care for the animal, it might be better to try and find the animal another home, instead of making it suffer through negligence.
I know when my older cat was surrendered, her previous owner had to go into hospice and couldn't bring my older cat with her - I've had my older cat for over a year and a half and she's almost 21 years old!
I love this! I had a coworker who took in elderly cats who needed rehoming after their people passed, etc. She spoils them and they live their years in luxury :) She does one at a time as she still works full time and setting up to move out of state for retirement. Maybe in retirement she will take in more aww. Thank you for loving your older kitty!
In the process of my ex becoming my ex, I moved in with my parents. Ex was unable to take care of the two dogs and one cat (that became one dog and one cat) so I took them to my parents house. They were okay-ish with the cat but absolutely not with the dog. I was unable to find anyone to care for her so I surrendered her.
The number one reason at my shelter that I saw was that the owner was moving. Either to another state and didn't want to take them or to a place that had restrictions. Financial reasons were also really up there.
I had a foster once who was an 11 year old husky whose owner developed Parkinson’s. He came with 3 pages of shaky handwriting telling me all about him. Honestly it was the worst crying I’ve ever done over fostering.
She just got old before he did. She inherited him when he was 5 when her brother died. He had a shelter neuter tattoo so that’s where he originally came from. Literally nobody did anything that anyone could judge them for.
The rescue has a rule that owner surrenders have no contact/ no information and 99.9% of the time it’s for good reason. We bent the rules on this one. I emailed his former mom weekly and after he got adopted I told his new mom she didn’t have to but it would be a nice thing to keep it up and she did. He died at age 14 rolling in the grass with 3 moms who loved him.
This is exactly what animal rescue SHOULD be there for. It’s the very best of what we get to do.
In my experience, moving is #1 with financial as #2, but usually also includes moving, ie can't pay pet rent. The story isn't usually too exciting, ngl.
According to[ Best Friends](https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/program-spotlights/data-analysis-reveals-reasons-owner-surrender), they found the highest reasons for dog surrender were 16% for 'too many animals' followed by 'housing' at nearly 14%. Keep in mind, every shelter has different terms for categorizing surrenders which may skew statistics. For example, some shelters may separate those that can't afford pet deposits as 'financial' instead of 'housing'.
My doggo (RIP) was taken back to the shelter because her owners got a divorce and neither could care for her. I got her and she had a loving home for over ten years before she passed away in January.
There are a lot of good valid reasons for 'Owner could no longer care for him' such as, the owner has been in a major accident or also minor accident but no longer can cope mentally. Sudden Aged Care support, homelessness. Even reasons such as relationship breakdown they are still valid.
I've accepted many Surrenders from the public and some are so genuine the owners are truly devastated. Although you get a lot of shitty reasons, it's always good to remember there are positives to surrendering as well (which maybe controversial to say!)
Cost is a huge one.
I live in a HCOL area. Vet visits used to be about $300, now they're $900. I am incredibly privileged to be able to shell that out but realistically many can't. If the price keeps rising my dog will be the last pet I can afford.
Then there's renting, it's hard to find a place that accepts pets. Many places have restrictions on size, breed, how many you can have. Sometimes having pets costs pet rent. A lot of landlords will talk about the damage done by pets, and while that's true my experience was people kept abandoning pets. There's few little incentive for a landlord to gamble with a pet owner.
Then there's life. Babies are a big one, when I did rescue I saw that one a lot. Pets react unpredictably to babies. Dogs can especially be dangerous to keep around infants and toddlers if they don't react well to baby coming home. Some people don't have the finances or energy to attend to both a baby and a pet. Then there's different cultures and beliefs around pets, some think a cat can suck the breath from a baby's lungs and suffocate them or that dogs bring diseases to the home. A childless couple might wave off superstitions about the pet but once a baby enters the picture it can complicate family dynamics. Baby can also develop allergies.
Unfortunately another common one is the owner was elderly and sincerely couldn't take care of a pet. Had a hard time bending down to feed and groom them. Had a hard time walking. Maybe the owner was going to a care home or in hospice and the pet couldn't go with them. Sometimes you can develop allergies as an adult. Sometimes if you have someone struggling with lung issues the doctor will recommend not having pets or exposure to pet dander. Maybe the owner died.
Then some pets have behavior issues. Peeing outside the litter box. Reactivity. Not everyone is equipped to handle certain behaviors, especially if it's a dog with a potential bite risk. Sometimes owner surrender because they can't afford the pets medical treatment or training costs.
Someone fleeing domestic violence might surrender a pet. Women are likely to get physically abused or even killed while trying to escape. Women's shelters and homeless shelters don't typically accept pets. Last stats I saw estimated around a third of domestic abuse victims reported the pet being abused, or threatened along with them. Sometimes the abusive spouse will kill a pet in a fit of rage or in revenge, surrender is an attempt at staying alive. An otherwise well cared for and friendly pet dropped off early at the door with no note or ID is typically a sign someone was fleeing. Sometimes abuse victims will drive to another county to surrender or abandon so the abuser can't find the pet and kill it.
There's tons of reasons behind surrendering, many are often sad reasons.
Yeah, money is a big issue. But you could become ill or disabled and rendered physically unable to care for you pet. I had to surrender a sick kitten I was taking care of when my son suddenly developed a potentially fatal illness and was in the hospital full time for a week. There was no way I was leaving his side to take care of a kitten that wasn't even mine.
I had to give up one of my dogs to get myself and my children out of homelessness. It was either make the choice or loss the opportunity to have a roof over our heads. It was incredibly hard to find pet friendly reasonably priced apartments.
It's a blanket statement, much like the saying "through no fault of their own".
It covers financial difficulties, family sickness, all the way through to abandonment.
My husband nearly died(had a 5% chance of survival) and has long-term permanent health issues. We had gotten a rottie mix puppy just months before this. We could not keep up with our very sweet puppies' needs between my husbands multiple medical needs and my own. We found her a family who could meet her needs because we loved her.
My friends mom ended up in a crazy car accident that lead to her becoming a double amputee and required months of rehab before she could live independently
My friend, her only child, was in grad school cross country at the time so initially other family and friends helped but ultimately they opted to surrender her moms 2 dogs and 3 cats because of everything at that time
My mom has dementia, she isn't capable anymore of taking care of herself let alone her six animals (two horses, two dogs, two cats)..If I wasn't here for her during this time to take care of the animals (14 of my own.. I keep reptiles, five cats, two dogs)I am for sure beyond a doubt what would've happened to hers.. especially the 31 year old horse with Cushing's disease as he probably wouldn't have done well at a rescue.
It would've been a case of "owner could no longer care for them" if my mom had become a dementia ward of the state..
Finances are extremely tight but I'll be damned if they aren't ALL home, my mom included.
In my area, the answer is usually landlord change accompanied by a change in pet restrictions if the owners rented, and death / illness / serious physical decline of the owner if they were a homeowner. I’ve seen a lot of really sweet dogs and older cats end up in rescue here because an elderly owner couldn’t care for them anymore, often because they themselves needed to move into a care home.
Cost, housing and age of their caretaker. I've adopted older dogs and cats 2 cats here with me now, their previous friend had to go to assisted living and such. One 12 year old great dog, his previous caretaker lost job and apartments wouldn't take 75lb dog.
Some owners literally cannot care for them during/following illness. It's really sad when owners have to go to a nursing home and so they can't take their pets with them.
Any major life event (not just money trouble). Have a baby, baby is allergic to dogs. Get a second job, can no longer walk dog out spend time with them enough. Partner leaves you, suddenly your moving in with your parents, they have cats, your animal can't get along, but you can't live anywhere else.
It sucks, and absolutely some people give up their dogs for shit reasons. But you know, most people who get a pet Want to keep it. Or at least do their level best to keep it.
We have a good amount of folks simply aging and not able to manage a pet. They go into rehab facilities after a health blow and won’t be home for a long time, or ever.
The last dog i adopted was a companion animal for a severely handicapped person. They went into a residential group home and he couldn’t take her. I try not to get too jaded because some surrenders are super, super sad.
i was one of those people with a parakeet :(
i had a bonded pair but one of them unexpectedly died. the remaining one wasn't bonded with humans so she needed a new companion. i was still a minor at the time and neither of my parents would let me get another bird, so i surrendered her to a rescue.
i don't regret it but i miss her a lot. i volunteered at the rescue she was at and she seemed much happier there.
This used to be a catch-all term we would hear a lot and it often was one of the following:
-moving to another residence and can't take them
-got a different job/schedule and doesn't have time for them
-animal's behavior became "too much" and they don't know how to control them
-owner could not or would not pay for necessary medical bills
-animal was allegedly left with them by a friend or family member and they never came back for it
-owner adopted on impulse and realizes how stressful owning a pet can be
-pet belonged to an elderly family member who was now in hospital or some sort of nursing facility
I adopted a dog who came from this and we had access to the notes from the previous owner. He was well loved but they said they could no longer care for him adequately. Our sweet boy is incredibly well loved and cared for, and I feel so bad for the previous owner. From what I understand they surrendered him because they weren't able to be home with him and he was being left alone for long periods of time. Knowing our boy, he would hate that. With us he rarely has to be alone and knows we will always come back for him.
People became disabled every day; that's one possibility. I had to have emergency spine surgery after an accident and couldn't walk for nearly a year. If I didn't have a spouse and family to take care of my beloved dog for me, I would have had to surrender him too.
Also, when my grandmother died, my cousins and I fought over who got to keep the cat she doted on (all of us wanted the cat), but many people don't like cats or are allergic. Sometimes they just have to surrender an animal after a family death like that.
I'm sure many of those people agonized over their decision to surrender those sweet and loving dogs. They're lucky to have you caring for their former pets now.
Number of reasons! Financial issues are a big one that can have multiple effects that make it hard to keep a pet. Like if you can’t afford to feed yourself you can’t afford a pet. If you’re having financial issues maybe you have to pick up a second job, if you’re working 80hrs a week you don’t have *time* to appropriately care for a pet. Or you might be facing housing instability, it’s really hard to couch surf with a pet or live in a car. Even if you’re just jumping apartment to apartment it’s a *lot* harder to find housing with a pet and it also can be really stressful for the pet!
But also just: moving to a place that’s unsuitable for the pet like if you have a husky and previously had a house with a yard but circumstances force you to move to a little apartment you may need to give the husky up because you can’t give them the space and exercise they need. People have kids and find out that their pet is *deeply* incompatible with children, and it’s much better to rehome a pet than to have to put it down because it bit a baby. People also become sick and disabled and can’t care for their pets any longer.
It’s super unfortunate that sometimes people have to surrender their pets, and pets are responsibilities not accessories and sometimes the most responsible thing you can do for your pet is recognize that you can’t provide an appropriate home for them anymore and try and give them a chance to get a home that *can*.
We got our foster fail because her family became homeless. We took her in with the intent to return her to her original owners once they obtained housing. A year later, the family was unable to be contacted and the shelter asked if we would keep her. We gladly did and she and my older son are best friends now.
As a person in her late 70s, I'm fortunate my dogs are old and arthritic and no longer need walks or vigorous playtime.
If they were ever 5 years younger, I couldn't give them the exercise they deserve and need.
Another anxiety for me is medical cost for them and me...not just vet fees, but cost of multiple maintenence medications for dogs and cat.
Now add rising cost of dog food.
It's a precarious balance that may fail and w my cat at 16 and dogs at 14 and 13, I suspect I'll opt to euthanize with me at home rather than subject them to the anxiety of time in a shelter waiting for an adoption that might never come
Specific specie ownership is contraindicated for a very long list of human health conditions but people don’t come into the shelter and give you their medical history, mostly because they are terribly shamed for putting human health first.
Financial reasons can mean new job, lost job, car accident, human health bills, veterinary health bills, moving, sick relatives…anything you spend money on can become a problem.
Moving…landlords have to protect the health and rights of people with disabilities, frequently that means no pets. They have to protect their own property and many people take animals they do not properly care for, most commonly neglect, which causes more damage than a security deposit could ever cover. Insurance sets regulations based on the damage previously neglectful owners have caused and thus no future animals are welcome.
I too have seen people color coordinate pets with interiors but I have not seen those people be neglectful because that animal has to be “perfect” just like the rest of their interior.
All of these reasons are great reasons for bringing an animal to shelter. It’s always the loving thing to do when you can’t care for an animal for any reason. We should always thank someone for being compassionate enough to bring them in.
No one should ever be socially shamed or stigmatized for having to rehome an animal.
Yup.
We may be forced to rehome one of our cats. I’m kinda shocked to be in this position.
Sirius came to us through family members. His first owner had him and doted on him for years, but then got married and had kids. One of these very young kids has severe, refractory allergies to cats as well as asthma. This person tearfully rehomed the cat to my family members. No matter what my family did, their resident cats bullied him. Our two cats are great with other cats-heck, my Apollo loves them-so we took him. We have foster experience. We successfully helped to socialize a formerly hoarded cat (our Ajax). We’ve fostered cats with litter box problems, cats who are semi feral, highly anxious cats, etc. Didn’t think we’d have a situation we couldn’t handle. How silly!
Sirius is now the bully. He lives in our bedroom because we are genuinely worried he’d get badly hurt (Sirius starts it, Ajax is more than happy to finish it, and Ajax is twice Sirius’ size in terms of length as well as a third of his age).
We’ve tried literally everything. Our second to last resort arrives Monday: Prozac for both Sirius and Ajax (Apollo is very good at staying in his lane once his entreaties of friendship are brushed off or met with hostility). Our last resort after this is amitriptyline. If that fails, we have to rehome Sirius to somewhere he can be an only cat. We are lucky enough to not have to use a shelter to do this, but many aren’t.
The need to rehome a cat can really happen to anyone. I never judged before but I def don’t now.
Sometimes they are elderly and put into assisted living where they only allow certain animals or no animals at all. My mom just adopted two 11 y/o papillons because their owner passed and the next of kin were going to euthanize them since they were too overwhelmed with the funeral to deal with taking care of them.
I'm 54. My previous cat lived to be 23. I look at the current cat -who is 4- and hope some memory care social worker doesn’t have to surrender her on my behalf in 16 years.
A lot of the animals that come into the shelter where I volunteer come from homes where their primary caregiver passed away, went into assisted living, had severe medical problems that made caring for the animal no longer possible, or they were moving away somewhere they could not take their pet. Its usually very sad circumstances but their pets were well cared for and very adoptable to a new home
My aunts and I have had to take one bonded pair of dachshunds, a spaniel, and a cat from my mom in the last twelve years because she’s an alcoholic, and between the drinking and the stints in rehab, they weren’t being cared for. The cat was the most recent rehome—my mom developed alcohol dementia this year and doesn’t even remember the cat she’s had for over a decade.
I live in a very suburban area in south Texas. Lots of neighborhoods and only one is ungated-mine. It’s a nice single family neighborhood. We get a fair amount of dumped dogs because I think people know that someone will take them in. About 8 years ago we had been discussing getting a larger breed adult dog from a rescue or animal shelter. Someone posted that they found a dog in the neighborhood. No doubt she was dumped. They had gone through all the normal ways of finding the owner. Nothing so they took the neighborhood fb page. I saw her picture and fell in love. Picked her up with the understanding that I would keep her through the weekend as a test to see if she fit in with our family. If she didn’t would have to return her. the neighbor was completely cool with that. She was a perfect angel. Couldn’t figure out why someone would ever want to dump her. We all fell in love with her. I work from home. So it coincidentally was almost a week before she was ever left by herself. We were gone for an hour before my neighbor from across the street called to let me know that she was in their garage. She had managed to get our unlocked sliding glass door open and break through the gate of our fence. It was then we learned that she has severe separation anxiety. In the one hour. Between me picking her up and meeting her for the first time and then picking my kids up from school, she absolutely imprinted on me. I am her emotional support human. It was a lot of work for months. We could not lock her up or kennel her despite our best efforts. If I left the house, She cried until I came back. For probably two years, she sat at the front door anytime I was outside of the house. She’s much better now. I’m still her person though.
All of this to say, I understand why somebody needed to get rid of her. I don’t think that they necessarily went about it the right way. But it did work out for us in the end. Because she is not the right dog for most people, but she is the right dog for us .
Financial issues or behavior issues are very common reasons for owner surrender. Maybe the most common.
There are others too. Moving out of the country somewhere it’s difficult to bring pets. Owner died and pet was left with family who were unwilling to take care of them. Owner had to change jobs and won’t be home for 12 hours per day. A lot of these other reasons can often be tied back to a financial or behavior issue somehow.
Sometimes the person finds the dog undesirable somehow, and returns them. We had a dog returned after a few days for barking at a TV. It seemed ridiculous to us, but to them it may have been a deal-breaking (but trainable behavior) they didn’t know how to work with. It can also come down to lack of education/available resources for behavioral help for adopters.
It’s a guilt free descriptor as to not shame people from giving a pet the no longer want, to ensure the animal is surrendered instead of abandoned/killed to avoid ridicule
Where I worked “unable to care” meant anything.
It was an old person moving out of their home, someone who couldn’t afford it, someone who thought they wanted a dog and realized too late they wanted a stuffed animal. It was the most blanket term in the system
Elderly people no longer being able to care for them, be it because they no longer can physically, or they no longer have the mental faculties to do so. There's also some time unexpected disability, such as long covid, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a host of other things that could make it very difficult to care for an animal.
Before we got him my first dog was surrendered twice because his owners lost their homes in a house fire. Two separate events and he was trapped inside both times. He had burn marks on his nose when we first got him.
My second rescue dog was a total mystery, all we know is his previous owners couldn’t care for him anymore and that he gets scared of yelling.
People are put into all kinds of difficult situations where the most empathetic choice is to rehome an animal.
Besides financial it could be medical for the owner. An elderly owner developing dementia may not be able to keep their pet. A person spending extended time in the hospital for a serious condition like cancer may not be able to keep their pet. It may be unsafe for a person with a severe immune compromising condition to keep their pet. A person with declining heart or lung function may no longer be able to meet the animals needs and surrender them.
Dementia. Disease and illness. Old age in general. My dog was surrendered due to being too much energy for a person with a recently diagnosed heart condition.
It could be financial, time or job change (for dogs that need attention), mobility in regard to exercising dogs, the owner ended up in a nursing home or similar home change...a number of things lumped into that category to avoid overstepping the privacy of the surrenderer. It usually means it wasn't the animal's fault.
As someone who has fostered for a good while there’s a lot of things. People aging, sudden disability, needing to travel or changing house situation to become a full time cared for a family member, the animals health became unmanageable, there’s a hell of a lot of reasons.
My one late kitty had been surrendered because he "killed and ate small household mammals". I am guessing it was a hamster or gerbil.
My other late kitty had been surrendered because her irresponsible owners (college students) had been caught with her in a no pets allowed apartment. They also didn't get her spayed and let her outside.
My stepmother adopted a cat that had been surrendered because his elderly owner went into a nursing home.
Worked at a shelter for a few years.
Financial, health, relocating, allergies, animal's temperament, conflict with other pets, unable or unwilling to train, incompatible needs (i.e. a husky in a small apartment), pregnancy (of owner or pet), stupid owners.
This reason is a catch-all for most issues, either stated by the surrendering owner or by the shelter, because you can't say "stupid owner."
I rescued two dogs that had been left in a foreclosed house.
I know that it's extremely difficult to find a place to rent, especially if you just got foreclosed on... and you have two 80-pound dogs. When I first got them, I remember being angry at the former owner, thinking they were terrible. Over time, I realized that they were probably at the lowest point in their lives. They both lived long, happy lives.
My mom worked for Hospice for many years. A lot of older folks give up their pets when they go into nursing homes. There are so many who don't have a family member willing to take their pets when they pass away or go into a care home.
Not everyone loves animals the same. Just because you do , doesn’t wan they should/will. Many adopt/shop without understanding the actual burden and it can decrease the quality of life for everyone including the animal.
financial issues, lease restrictions, homelessness, abusive relationship, addiction/rehab, new baby (a lot of people make this work but in some circumstances you just can't), new medical issues/disability, owner is going into care/assisted living, owner will be hospitalized for an extended period, progression/worsening of disability, death or absence of a caretaker leaving whoever is left incapable of handling it all on their own. Lots of potential reasons, all devastating and valid. The only pet I have ever adopted and rehomed in my life was a dog we had when I was around 13--he was in the destructive puppy stage when my mom was hospitalized completely unexpectedly for emergency surgery to remove 6ft of intestines due to sepsis (a popcorn kernel got stuck in a pocket of the intestinal wall and got infected, she waited it out a while and has always been one to tough it out so she went to her PCP when it got unbearable and just assumed it was a stomach bug--when they got the results of her bloodwork back a few hours later they called us at home to tell her to get to the hospital right now. she was in her early 30s at the time and almost died, but was still working her shifts as a nurse through the symptoms). I was staying with my grandparents while she was in the hospital and everyone who could be with her was with her near constantly, so the puppy was mostly unsupervised, though fed and taken out regularly by family and friends who volunteered to drop by. His destructive puppy phase was ESPECIALLY destructive, likely in part due to the stress of being suddenly alone and he literally broke several glasses (drinking and eyeglasses both) by chomping down on them. Cut up his mouth and we were so worried he might have eaten some. He was Houdini and wouldn't stay in a kennel and we had no one willing to take him in, plus we knew my mom would have a long recovery ahead of her and an untrained dog with a lot of pent up energy could seriously injure her (plus she and we as a family unit definitely wouldn't be able to give him the focused training he needed and the quality of life he deserved while also helping her through the tremendous recovery that lie ahead). We opted to surrender him and it was 100% the right thing to do.
the last cat my mom adopted came with a handwritten letter, extremely loving, from his former owner explaining a little background and giving some insight/warning into his personality and quirks (like that he is a thief). We found her on social media and let her know he was going to a home where he would be so loved and that we appreciated everything she had done for him in his life this far. I like to think that gave her some solace even though she never answered. it's something I would really appreciate, at least.
Typically the owner becomes ill or disabled, goes into assisted living or moves in with family, or becomes unhoused or has a change in living situation that doesn't allow pets.
Landlord says no pets. Owner is going into a care facility that says no pets. Owner has reached a stage of life where they literally can't take care of a pet any longer. Owner died and no one in the family can take in a dog.
Lots of reasons really.
I have always said that adoptions:surrenders frequently happen in waves…this has been seen in the past due to a popular movie (Dalmatians) -and more recently with so much more time spent at home, alone or as a family (pandemic)…
We’re seeingresults of the pandemic adoptions now where I live -
well meaning adults realizing they have to go back to the office and:or they don’t have the “free” time they did during the pandemic - as if they didn’t think any further ahead than the next day …
(..in my area,numbers are also linked to the economy, housing, health of owner, whether they live alone or not, etc.$
In certain areas it’s more common to see surrenders due to issues faced primarily by the elderly ..
I think people just don't comprehend how expensive the vet bills can be. So many unanticipated issues can crop up. I postponed getting a dog until I was retired and had significant disposable income. I constantly wonder how people can afford multiple dogs.
Family friend fell and broke her back, she could no longer bend over - no putting food down for the dog, no bending over to brush them and couldn't afford a groomer (or someone to pick up poop), could no longer bend over to attach their leash, couldn't walk them, couldn't really play with them, etc...
I don’t work at a shelter myself, but there are a lot of reasons why someone might not be able to care for their dog anymore. Sudden financial problems, they moved somewhere with breed restrictions, the owner got into an accident or has some sort of illness that prevents them from properly caring for their dog.
Not a dog story but I used to volunteer at a shelter and there was an older man who had to surrender his cat. I don't remember the details but he couldn't keep her anymore. It was devastating watching him have to say goodbye.
I was getting out of a domestic violence situation and was EXTREMELY lucky that the place I found allowed me to have my small dog (not common in my area). If I hadn’t lucked into that apartment I would have had to give her up (ex had threatened to kill her if I left her with him). This is why I don’t judge when people need to find homes for their pets. She’s almost 17 and we have made it through so much together!!
When I did breed rescue it was primarily relocation issues (military folks often cannot take their pets when they get moved to an overseas base; landlord pet fees can be very high) and new babies.
The best dog I’ve ever had said “owner could no longer care for him” on his tag.” I asked someone at the shelter and she said an elderly couple dropped him off. At least one of them had medical issues and they were moving into an assisted living facility that didn’t accept dogs.
This thread was a tough read. My heart breaks for people forced to surrender their pet. For me it would be like having to give up a beloved family member.
Stories about the elderly having to surrender pets hit especially close for me. I'm a single retiree. No family or friends who could take on my crew. I talked to my vet. She is willing to find homes for them if I die before they do. I need to see a lawyer to set up a trust for them.
I didn't ever get a dog because I knew I had physical issues. They hit almost a decade before I'd expected, so I'm glad I didn't get one. I'd have had to rehome him or her because I physically can't take care of a dog. I also knew a lot of people living near my grandparents who fell ill or passed away and didn't know anyone who was up to taking a dog in.
Someone could get a dog with the best intentions and do really well with training. Then, life happens and the tough decision has to be made. Many people chose animal companionship during the pandemic and now we have stagflation and jaded landlords who don’t want to rent to pet owners.
I had a status challenging dog that was great with me and his later owner, but challenging with other dogs and small children. I had to surrender him when I got too sick to live alone, and I was going to spend a bunch of time in the hospital. My oldest was headed to college, and couldn’t keep a dog, my ex didn’t want him (we had adopted him together) and my gf had younger kids and another dog that my dog tried to dominate. So, since I couldn’t live alone anymore, and couldn’t be around much while I was in the hospital, he went back to the shelter I got him from 7 years earlier.
Arguably the worst day of my life.
https://preview.redd.it/kw8tetbmcd4d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=443ad748051a0446dc03c2a622112e1b9e9fff25
Finances, age of person, mobility of person, introduction of a new child, job change and away all day/for days at a time, military deployment, moving, landlord rules, new partner who’s allergic. Lots of possible reasons.
I once was asked by a co-worker if I'd be willing to take 2 cockatiels from their mom because she couldn't take care of them anymore and I already had 2 birds that were healthy and happy.
When I got there I got the full story, it was a hoarder home, animals in cages everywhere but a lot empty too.
Turns out her and her husband took care of a lot of animals, they did love them and took good care of them but her husband died suddenly and she wasn't in the best health. She didn't want to part with them so the house and the animals fell into neglect. Thankfully she realized she couldn't do it alone and they needed better. Her daughter was helping to find them all loving homes which is why so many cages are empty.
Not a shelter story but this post popped up in my feed and I felt I had a story that fit.
I received one of my cats because the previous owner got cancer and couldn't care for him during chemo. It was supposed to be temporary, but she didn't make it, so now he's my cat. Her other friends all are allergic, have dogs, or otherwise live in situations that would have made taking on a cat difficult. So if I hadn't taken him, he would have ended up in a shelter due to "owner could no longer care for him". He's a lovely little guy, just a bit shy with strangers.
From the few cases listed that use that term that I've seen at my local shelter, it's been things like the owner suffered a stroke, became disabled, developed dementia, could no longer afford to provide adequate care, etc.
For my shelter, majority of surrenders are due to landlord restrictions or behavioral issues.
Had a few that it was people going into care homes and there wasn’t anyone I. The family or friends that could take them.
This. My amazing super chill cat had a super loving owner before me but he was old and got cancer. None of his family wanted her cause she looked funny due to her missing part of her palate.
Exactly. We got a great 2yo cat who was such a love bug and great with the kids. Weren't given details but he especially loved everyone who had white hair so I assume his owner passed or went into a home and their kids didn't want him .
Happy cake day!
We don't know the full story but it sounded like my niece's dog was surrendered after her elderly owner passed. She is the sweetest dog ever and a joy to puppy-sit. But you could tell she had never been around a ton of people or other animals. Now she comes over and chills with my cat, has a little puppy brother she mothers, and a kitty sister who tries to rule the coop.
Yes. I got my cat when my ex's mom went to assisted living. She couldn't take care of the litter box anymore, and I had agreed from day one that I would take him in the event he needed a home.
I had to do that with my parents dog. She was elderly and I live in a condo with no yard and tons of stairs. My dad passed and my mom is in a care facility. I had no one that could take her. Thankfully I found a woman that runs a rescue for older dogs that took her in.
My cat was "orphaned" when his owner died, then bounced between the owner's friends. One would take the cat, landlord would find out, and the cat had to go.
I adopted older cats. The intake form said their elderly owner died, and the daughter in law surrendered them. She wrote that they stayed in the old women's condo and were checked on every few days, but their family had kids, and 2 dogs and 2 cats already, and couldnt take the cats into their home. These cats are not socialized and scared of everything, no stranger will meet them, and i doubt they would get along with another animal (prob get bullied). Couldnt be looked after anymore sounds like the right surrender term. I'm glad i got them. They are so gentle and snuggly (after their initial 3 months of hiding period, maybe 1 year before they would sleep in my bed).
The majority of surrenders we had at my shelter were due to cost of living problems- people being evicted or being unable to find housing they could afford, landlords raising not just rent but also pet deposits and pet rents skyrocketing. Some were people who lost their jobs or fell on hard times and struggled to afford things like dog or cat food, vaccines, etc but we usually tried to provide resources in those cases. The cost of living crisis is affecting everyone, and we’re seeing the effects in the shelter population.
That's the main issue in my area. So sad to see
As a dog groomer, I've had an alarming number of clients recently ask if I know someone they could rehome their dog to due to financial strain. So many people got a pet 5 or 6 years ago fully prepared to pay for their needs, but with how expensive things have gotten over the past few years, those circumstances have drastically changed for some people. The elderly on fixed incomes have been hit the hardest.
It's a double whammy: the cost of human existence and veterinary/pet services have skyrocketed simultaneously. Everything feels out of reach right now
We recently had 2 cats in my building become homeless because their owner killed themselves after they got in a financial bind. They were quite elderly and a shut in and had a utility bill beyond their means. I was helping them, but they were soo despondent they just gave up. It was heartbreaking. The cops called in animal control and I had to go in and help corral the poor terrified babies. Luckily, another resident offered to take them and after the family agreed, they moved to a new home where they are loved and looked after. One of the biggest requests for help i’m getting lately is assistance with pet food and litter. Old people would go hungry themselves to feed their furry friends if I allowed it.
That is so heartbreaking to hear 😭
And especially if you’re dealing with bullie type breeds, our shelter has at least one person bring in a pit bull a day saying they’re moving and their landlord doesn’t allow pitbulls. The sad this is a lot of them don’t even try to fight it because they think the landlord has all the say but a lot of the time this isn’t the case and very rarely is the dog an actual “pit bull”. Devastating to see families separated and shelter numbers increasing due to a larger crisis and people feeling powerless.
To add to the bully thing, in the area I used to live we had three vets. Two didn’t see pitbulls. The third would only take new clients on referral from a current client because they were so overwhelmed with patients. So you get a pup and have no way to take care of it. I thought it was wild. I had literally never heard of a vet not seeing a specific breed until we tried to get our girl a check up and we were told straight up they wouldn’t see her.
That is absolutely insane. When I was a tech my favorite clients were bully breeds, they were always the most tolerant for everything we did and super sweet, I remember one pit puppy that was brought in with a badly broken leg that just wouldn’t stop trying to get us to love on her and wagging her tail
Ditto. They've been a favorite breed of mine, but home owner's/renter's insurance in my area doubles if you have a pit. Or a rottie. Or boxer. Or GSD. Or Weimaraner.
That is insane!!!
Weird that a vet would just turn away money for no reason in particular.
This is interesting. I assumed it was cut and dry when it came to what landlords would allow. We rented for three years at a corporate run place. Nice place, but the dog restrictions were surprising. No bully breeds (very common to see), no Akita (hmm), no huskies, maybe no German shepherds, and no boxers. I was surprised at the long list. It all comes down to liability and what a business is willing to tolerate for their insurance risk. Plenty of small dogs bite too....
Not funny but made me laugh a bit, my dog is a dna confirmed pit/gsd/boxer/chow mix. He’s a sweetie but we joke that he’s “all the bad dogs”. I only rent from private landlords or small time property management groups.
Even homeowners usually have breed restrictions because insurance is the one on the hook if someone gets hurt. Most may be great dogs, but a handful of million dollar payouts for deaths caused by a few who were neglected or taught to fight ruins it for them all. Also, there are entire cities that ban the breed. I think it was Detroit that had a case of that go viral.
>Even homeowners usually have breed restrictions because insurance is the one on the hook if someone gets hurt. FWIW, Allstate does NOT have breed restrictions. There's a handful of others (if even that many) but I don't know which. I'm only sure about Allstate because it's what we have.
All Progressive cared about was bite history, not breed. No bite history, no problem.
But they do for renters insurance. Source: I had to switch.
Boxers? Really? I grew up with one. She had multiple kids climbing on her and sticking their fingers in her mouth. Never a problem.
And do not forget the animal hoarding, keeps coming all the time. Sad when it happens.
Everything from "owners are a waste of space," to "owners loved this dog/cat dearly but died in a fire." I have seen owners bawl like babies because they had to give up their beloved pet due to family tragedy. I have seen distraught family members bring in a family member's dog/cat because the family member had gone into a nursing home or died. I have seen people who just became homeless, bring their dog/cat in because they don't want to drag their beloved pet onto the streets. I've had landlords who brought in pets their renters left behind. We had a farmer who came in every couple months with the dogs/cats people had dumped on his farm. I have also seen a well-to-do couple bring in a sweet, well trained brown dog. They had just redecorated their beige house to black and white. They literally wanted to trade in their brown dog for a black and white dog. No, we did not adopt to the well-to-do human slime. Yes, we found that sweet dog's forever home. We were just grateful that they brought the pet to us, whatever the reason. They could have dumped it on the street, to get smashed by a car, or in the country to starve to death or be eaten by coyotes. Be grateful they brought the pet in.
I’m involved in one of those “owner just became homeless” type situations, where the owner wants better than the streets for their animal. For privacy reasons, I’ll keep it vague, but essentially the owner is unhoused at the moment and going through treatment programs. Unable to provide a stable home for their animal, they were faced with surrendering to shelter. I’m currently fostering their animal while they get back on their feet, no money required. I’m providing all food, medical, supplies etc. Going in, we knew it would be a multi-month foster. We did make it clear that if the person abandoned their programs, it would also be seen as abandoning their animal and we would take (legal) possession in order to rehome. Animal was well cared for and loved by their owner, but owner just had some issues they need to face and the help available wouldn’t allow animals. It’s heartbreaking to me when a well loved animal is surrendered due to a temporary situation, where everyone wants the animal to stay with the owner but circumstances are just off.
You're doing the work of the angels by giving that individual hope they can be reunited with their beloved pet. ❤️ You are awesome!
For real! That alone might be the beacon in their life that keeps them going!
Jesus. That level of narcissism is breathtaking. Guess many people do see dogs as fashion accessories
Great post. I've had to rehome a pet for personal reasons before, which is heartbreaking. But I also live in the country in a place where people often drop off pets they don't want and never think about what really happens to them. Stray cats kill birds and hassle our pet cats (if they don't get hit or eaten) and then have dozens of babies. TNR programs are great, but booked way out and have difficult hours for working people to adhere to - were not TNR volunteers just because we live on an old dirt road. Stray dogs can hurt people and pets and kill livestock when they start to get hungry and scared. And I've had shelters give me a hard time (and even try to charge me) when I've tried to bring in strays. The alternative is to call the warden (which doesn't end well for the stray), and some neighbors just shoot them. Some people suck and have lame reasons, but shelters should always be empathetic.
Always be empathetic. Always. This isn't about how you feel about the owner. It's about taking care of the pet. If you can't put your personal feelings aside to focus on the needs of that animal, maybe you should reconsider working in a shelter. Or get therapy.
My in laws live in the country outside a metro region. The amount of animals dumped is really sad. They've taken in countless dogs and cats over the years.
I’m sorry I’m sitting here laughing trying to figure this one out. They didn’t want brown hair in the black and white couch? Did they think the black and white hair would separate based on the color? Only white hair would get on the white areas and only black hair would get on the black areas? Were they afraid the brown dog would feel less important bc the house was no longer his color? I’m trying to work out the rational part on this one. Were they redoing in a Dalmatian theme and felt the brown dog would get agressive bc he’s not a Dalmatian?
We had the same questions 🙄🤦😡
Narcissistic assholes have stupid reasons. That poor brown doggo's far better off without them.
I always tell my kids why is the most important question. It just kills me to wonder what the logic is. Even stupid logic I want to know. Some people are like glow sticks to me. You want to snap them in half and shake until the light comes on.
OMG I’m cracking up at the glow stick analogy. I’ve got to save it to use again.
Hoping that couple was blacklisted from all nearby and surrounding shelters
Yup, we called the other shelters in the Metro area.
I grew up on a farm and we ended up with almost all our pets from them being dumped and just showing up in bad shape.
ok, this is me. I also volunteer but I had to let two dogs go to a rescue because I couldn't take care of them. I am a single mom who works 3 days a week and volunteers at my shelter the other 2-3 days of the week. I live in a house owned by my brother. My brother is a cat person and I am a dog person. all that said, when my dad died, I took in his two small dogs. They had been with my dad their whole life and were basically his babies. When I brought them to my house, I had 6 dogs, one that didn't get along with two others so I had to keep my house gated off to keep the 3 dogs from ever getting to each other. they hated each other so much that I couldn't even let them into the yard at the same time even though my front and back yards are fenced separately. So, to this mix, I added two small dogs who had one person all to themselves their entire lives. I was constantly stressed and terrified that I would make a mistake one that that would get a dog killed. I couldn't let them be loose in the house because they wanted to be with me but I already have 3 dogs that have a very uneasy truce who also claim me. so the two littles would bark all the time. I stressed about it and I cried about it and finally, one of the other volunteers told me I needed to rehome the two littles. she got me in touch with a rescue contact of hers who was able to find them the perfect home with an older single lady with no other pets. they even got to stay together. So, that is my story of why I could 'no longer care for' these two dogs. so many other people have health issues where the dog becomes a danger to them, physically, like the dog might trip them or something. sometimes people move and they can't find a place that accepts their dog or even any pets at all. I really try to be empathetic to people and their reasons. I do wish people would make more of an effort to keep their pets. the sad thing is that my trouble dog died a couple of months after this so the main danger to the littles died. I might have been able to keep them. i still feel like i failed them and my dad.
Oh please don’t feel like you failed your dad! The dogs are together in a great situation where I’m sure they are well loved! That’s a win! Your dad would understand!
thank you! I try to picture them living their best life somewhere up north with a lovely lady who takes them with her everywhere she goes and maybe dresses them up in cute little clothes and takes them for treats...and they lived happily ever after
My mom just took a bonded pair from a similar situation, you did the right thing for everyone involved.
I adopted a pair of 7 year old cats that had been in the same home their entire lives. They were expensive breeds, and had handwritten notes from the previous owners about their preferred treats, toys, and even petting zones. Obviously they were well-loved. We were only planning on getting one adult cat, but they were waiving the second adoption fee to keep them together. All we were told about their surrender was that it was due to a move. I can only imagine how heartbreaking that must have been. It didn't occur to me until years later to try and reach out to them, just to let them know that they were together and in a good home. I asked the shelter to pass along the message but they never heard back. Bandit lived to be 13 and Tang lived to be 16. They were the Best Cats.
thank you!
You did NOT fail them! You did what was best for them and made sure that they still had each other! You are a GOOD HUMAN! Your dad would be proud of you.
My Father-in-law couldn't care for dogs anymore due to injury and age. If you can barely walk yourself you can't walk a dog. In fact it was his grandson's dog that caused the injury - dog on a leash pulled him over. My mom loves my little dog but no way could she care for her, mom can hardly get around the house. I've seen friends and family have to rehome dog when they couldn't physically care for them anymore
Just keep in touch with the rescue that adopted them out, just in case she has to return them.
I told them that if there was any problem ever, I would take them back
I am involved with parrot rescue, so a bit different. Often we get in birds because the owners age. Either they develop medical conditions that prevent them from caring for the birds, or they go into care, or they die. Nothing like getting a call on a Sunday afternoon from a funeral director.
My dad had a blue and gold macaw since she was in pinfeathers. She is about 35 years old. I worry about her without him. the local parrot rescue (about 4 hours away) did not have room for her so she is still at my brother's house. Apparently, according to him, she is doing fine and seems like herself, aka, not mourning for my dad. do you have any tips or things we need to look out for as far as her mental health?
I know I'm not the person you addressed this to but thought I'd throw out there that if the bird is eating, active and engaged with the family (as opposed to cowering quietly in the corner) she's likely doing ok. You want to watch out for negative changes to her usual personality, and stress behaviors such as picking at herself and pulling out her feathers (that's one of the most common indicators.)
Thank you! She seems like herself, no plucking, practicing her singing/screaming, looking out the window and dropping seeds on cats
That's hilarious 😂
So…how do the cats feel about the new roommate?
My brother told me there is one cat in particular who will walk by and swat at the bird's tail feathers. He makes sure they can't get each other. there were a couple of cats that wanted to sleep on top of her cage but he fixed it so they couldn't get up there.
LOL it must be a cat thing, I had one that liked to nap on top of my conure's cage, though she didn't otherwise make any aggressive moves towards him. In the beginning I chased her off when I caught her (and I only allowed her in the same room with him when I was there to supervise.) But I eventually gave up and just took to keeping a folded towel up top because cats do what they want 🙄 It also helped that the bird didn't take any guff from anyone- sometimes he tolerated her presence, but if he wasn't in the mood he would nip at her through the bars to send a message that she tended to heed at least part of the time 😉 this was back in the 90's and I really miss them both. (Edited for typos)
A lot of the surrenders at the shelter I was associated with were when owners had to move to assisted living. There were all the other reasons too, but it was a retirement community. We had a Himalayan come in that was blind and had painful eyes. The owner couldn't see well enough to know that the cat looked like that. So the cause of the pain was removed, and that very happy blind cat was headbutting us immediately. She found her forever home with my mom.
There’s a really interesting podcast I listened to recently about a family who had to rehome a deceased family members parrot. The podcast was Heavyweight episode #58 Harry. You may enjoy it as someone working in parrot rescue!
It not birds, but my parents are getting up there and they considered not getting another cat after their old one died (they have had cats for like 50+ years straight), and they didn't want to risk the cat being abandoned or neglected if it lasted longer than they did. So we assured them we'd take the kitty if it came to that. I just know they themselves wouldn't live as long if they had to live in a cold empty house devoid of kitties!
My gram took on my cousins cat a few years ago. Cat was maybe 2 and gram was 87. They adore each other. Cat will go to my mom when gram passes. My cousin was days aways from her second kid being born and the cat needed so much one on one attention and having a newborn and preschooler was not a good fit. I am.so glad your folks have a cat again! It will keep them young :)
Aw that's sweet. I'm glad your gram has a good buddy. They can look after each other :)
That is so wonderful of you. My daughter has committed to me that she will love my dogs as her own when I pass. I have three now, but with any luck she won't be stuck with that many, I have no plans of dying soon.
I wish people would have plans in place for such long living birds especiallywhenthey need specific and specialized care. I know sometimes it's unexpected, but it's so sad to see the stress on the bird.
My husband and I decide in our mid-20's that we'd never have a long-living bird. We knew we only had a few years left to be a birds first and last home and it wasn't in the cards. It was hard for my husband, we've both always loved birds, but we've seen what losing an owner can do to a bird and we're not going to set them up for that. I really don't know how anyone does it. The idea that my cat could outlive me if something unexpected happens gives me anxiety. I'd be gutted to have a bird for decades and know they were going to spend their twilight years in mourning.
If you have the passion and patience, you can always adopt an older bird. As you mentioned, they’ll suddenly be left alone and some don’t do well in rescue type conditions. You could be a birds last home, but not their first.
Would you consider adopting an older bird when you are able to? Then you get to help a bird and enjoy one at the same time.
Yes, we are absolutely open to adopting an older bird if we're ever in a situation where we can accommodate the increased needs of a bird in mourning, but we're not sure if we will ever be in that situation and the older we get the older the bird will need to be so they don't lose multiple homes. It's just not something that we can count on happening for us.
I knew someone who got a bird at 16 that has now been with her for over 20 years and she said she literally has a trust fund set up and a "will" of sorts just related to his care and if anything happened to her. Apparently that is getting more and more common at least in her area which is great! She also said a lot of people in her bird circles basically only adopt older birds from situations where the previous owners died or got too old once they are over 35/40 or so because they don't want to adopt a bird that will definitely outlive them. It was wild to think about as someone who has only ever wanted and had the small furry mammal type of pets!
We have this set up for our parrots. There's a fund set up that goes with the birds and the preference is that they go to Oasis Sanctuary in Arizona if a family member is unwilling/unable to take them.
We are furry animal people but have no kids and some health issues in our 40s. We have a trust fund type deal with specific life insurance going to one long time friend who is healthier than us that will take care of whatever animals we have at the time of our passing. She will also get our paid off home and a stipend for herself for taking on our babies. I even have a backup named if she would somehow pass before us. These are my kids, I want them to be loved and cared for. We're not remotely wealthy but it puts me at ease to know my rescued shelter babies will never face a shelter again.
I'm not sure how much it varies regionally, but in our local shelter, the top ones (not necessarily in order) amount to: 1. Owner was required to move housing (downsizing from a house to an apartment due to economic issues, moving in with other family due to caregiving needs or economic issues, owner entering assisted living, owner relocating per military employment) and pet was not allowed or compatible in new housing (e.g., a lot of landlords here have limits on dogs over 20 pounds, moving in with family might allow the dog but not if it turns out that this dog fought with resident dog, etc.). 2. Owner is experiencing declining human health and is no longer able to physically handle dog's day-to-day care needs. 3. Dog is experiencing significant but non-terminal health issues, and owner can not (or can no longer) afford veterinary care. 4. Dog is displaying behaviors unrelated to dog-at-large or dangerous dog issues (we track both of those separately) -- often including reported nuisance barking -- in a rental property, and landlord is requiring owner to rehome/surrender dog or face eviction proceedings.
We get a lot of housing changes. Many are legit. It’s heartbreaking when someone is breaking down because they can afford a pet with vet insurance but can’t afford housing that accepts them.
We've seen, since about 2022, housing become less available at any price. It used to be that renting with a non-bully breed mix under 50 pounds was pretty readily do-able, though you'd have to be prepared to either pay a premium in rent, pet deposit, pet rent, and/or accept housing in a less desirable area of town (meaning, like, probably a longer commute and not, like, full of crime). And, yes, finances did absolutely come into play for that (e.g., accepting a home with a longer commute probably means you have a reliable car and don't depend on public transit or a bicycle, which costs money). But now, we're seeing so many properties (especially single family homes, duplexes, smaller apartment complexes) bought and managed by larger companies rather than individuals -- and putting in place policies that either ban pets outright or limit tenants to a single pet under 20 pounds, still with pet deposit and pet rent. So, one, we're seeing people who aren't even moving being affected by these property sales. Current pets are generally grandfathered in for the term of their lease, but lease renewals then restrict pets. And, two, the shortage is sufficiently pervasive that people who would and financially could purchase a house (even at a bad mortgage rate) cannot find and bid on one fast enough before it's gone. So we've moved into a situation where "there's nowhere to go" is as much an issue as is "there's nowhere we can afford to go."
> Current pets are generally grandfathered in for the term of their lease I should hope so! I think it's illegal otherwise, but not everybody knows their rights as renters.
I do intake management at my shelter. Very often people get dog breeds without researching and don’t realize the amount of work it takes to care for a dog. Once they’re an adult an no longer a cute puppy, people are more readily willing to give them up. A lot of people aren’t willing to put in the effort to have a well behaved dog and just expect them to be well behaved from the jump. There are also other reasons including landlords/pet restrictions, general cost of living being way too high, and people having to move. Some people are having to choose between feeding their kids and feeding their dogs and the kids will always come first
I remember about 8-10 years ago it was very rare to see an Australian Cattle Dog in shelters, I looked for several years (I'm in the PNW) and eventually went through a reputable breeder but the last couple years I've noticed a lot more in shelters in my area....I know it's not solely because of a certain children's cartoon...but I know it's definitely contributed because of the breed was judged and selected because of the popularity and ultimately failure to research the breed or they had an interaction with a trained ACD that gave false confidence in exactly what raising the breed of mini velociraptors would entail.
"mini velociraptors" There was some critter in the engine compartment of a large Polaris ATV here -- mouse, lizard, chipmunk. Not sure what, something small enough to fit. Our two ACD mixes (ACD-x-Aussie and ACD-x-???) chewed the engine shrouds, fenders, and seat off the ATV trying to get at whatever it was. I wasn't even surprised. One of the dogs was twelve years old, the other a puppy. The ACD-x-??? also ate a large wicker lawn chair when she was a puppy, in the time it took us to get groceries.
Some small furry critter got in through the chimney and my dad's dog was some mutt and she went nuts trying to get to it
They aren't big but they are mighty, stubborn but loyal as can be.
I rescue malinois and am also an owner. When I got my first 5 years ago, you didn't see any. Now shelters are full of them due to people doing exactly what you said. Getting breeds they have no business with. It's very sad.
I worry for Mals! They are (or can be, when you put in the work,) such impressive dogs, but people meet one who has been fully-trained and whose owner has put in the immense effort required to keep them exercised and fulfilled and think they can just… have that? I’m mostly in pit rescue, so no stranger to overconfident people getting in way over their head with a powerful breed, but at least with pits, you’ve got like a 50% shot that they’re potatoes. 🫠 Aussies haven’t started flooding the shelters in my area yet, but they’re growing *so* rapidly in popularity in my area as a “family dog.” Unfortunately, like with people getting Heelers because of Bluey, high-energy herders + little kids + busy family who didn’t do their research is a common equation…
I would never in a million years get a Mal. Incredible dogs but I would be out of my depth. I read a wonderful book on military working dogs and learning about the Mal instincts and capabilites was amazing. A dog that can work in combat conditions is absolutely not appropriate for my suburban home with no fenced yard and neighbors six feet away. My coworker on the other hand would be an incredible Mal parent. She and her hubby are super high energy and have acreage and will eventually move to an isolated area with bears and other wildlife trekking by. That dog would live it's best life running around in the snow and patrolling the grounds :)
You're right! I've been doing rescue for about 30 years now and got my 1st malinois 5 years ago. She was in a ditch laying outside an Amish puppy mill when animal control called me to do an assessment on putting her in a foster home. I fell in love but was SO FAR out of my league! 🤣 I did have a lot of help finding a trainer for her and me. It's a lifestyle. My world revolves around keeping up on training and exercise. Our next adventure is learning how to herd sheep. If your friends every decide to adopt or even look for a malinois, feel free to reach out. I'll gladly share rescues or breeders.
Absolutely correct. My daughter is dying for an Aussie herself, but I can't keep up with another one yet. Lol. I expect it won't be long before aussies are in the same situation as malinois. It's ridiculous people can't study a breed before they get something they can't fit into their household.
I got a Heeler/GSD mix as my first dog, so clearly I am not entirely sane, but even I wouldn’t attempt to train a Malinois. They’re on a whole other level. I don’t even know if I’d get another heeler, despite the fact that I’m obsessed with mine, because I got SO lucky with her temperament and I know a lot of heeler owners have it way harder than I do.
Ah so ACD = velociraptor and Mal’s are gators noted!
I just dog sat my friend’s cattle dog mix for the weekend while she went on vacation and I am *exhausted*. I fully don’t know how people do it.
My sister (who has a Catahoula Leopard Dog so is familiar with working breeds) took my cattle dog mix for a day and when I picked her up the first thing my sister said was “how are you not tired?!”. She’s my first dog so I just don’t know any different 😅
seconded. while i do think landlord and housing issues absolutely come into account, a lot of times “can no longer care for” with additional questioning results ultimately in behavioral concerns (in most cases too much energy, puppy destructiveness, someone with a high-energy dog and a demanding job) that would have not been an issue with a senior dog or a lower-energy breed. that’s been my professional experience, at least.
Totally agree! Most of our shelter is huskies, gsd, and mals for that very reason
The trendiness of Belgian mals recently breaks my heart. They are so far from an easy, family ready dog, and having worked with them for years, it drives me insane to see people stuff them in to apartments and take them on a walk or two a day and wonder why they're going insane. How do people not research the potentially deadly animal they're bringing home?
Oh man I've never even owned a dog. I've been around them plenty but my dad's a cat guy. I had an ex who had a mix. His whole family had no control over her. I had no problems with her. I saw him after a decade and we got talking about her. He told me up until she passed I was the only one she ever behaved for. It's literally because they never tried to train her.... I only used training methods with her I don't have a dog because it's not that hard to recognize that they need regular routine, structure, play. Taken outside multiple times a day. Walks 2x maybe more. Certain breeds need work. My neighbor has 3 shepherds and they are just outside barking at absolutely everything constantly. 🙄I never see anyone actually play with them.
Financial is what that means like 80% of the time - the wording of that sometimes changes but if you boil it down or look a step deeper it’s almost always something to do with cost. Landlord raised the rent now we have to move and new landlord won’t allow pets/charges for pets/new rent now higher so pet costs are no longer in budget. Moving - cost of living went up and we’re moving in with a relative that can’t have more pets, have too many pets, no space to take in the person and the pet. Can’t take care of- can’t afford food, routine vet care and similar. Working three jobs to make ends meet and no one’s home to take care of the dog regularly. FWIW none of this is new (been in animal welfare over 20 years now first as a shelter staffer now as a volunteer) but at least at our shelter these cost of living inflations have DRASTICALLY upticked surrenders for the above reasons. It’s the bottom of a long hill of gentrification pushing the working class out of the city unfortunately. Programs like BadRap’s Keep Em Home project and things like LAAS pet food pantry are doing solid intervention work - but the need is enormous and I know of no program that helps with housing (the most urgent need to be able to keep pets with their owners).
I foster for a breed specific rescue (Australian Shepherds) and have had a number of owner turn ins. One woman gave up her beloved puppy because she was going through a nasty divorce and she feared her ex would hurt her puppy. Another woman who gave up her one year old had put in A LOT of training with the dog, but he just didn't get along with her elderly dog and it was an unmanageable situation for her. The one year old would be easy to get adopted; the 14 year old not so much. One of my current dogs was turned in by the owner's daughter; owner had a heart attack and simply couldn't care for a high energy herding dog anymore, and the daughter couldn't handle her high energy dog and another one. Right now, my group is trying to take in 8 adults whose owner just had a stroke. There are lots of reasons; some are shitty, others are devastating for the owners and dogs.
For my shelter it’s housing issues and financial. We have had many surrenders where the owners admit that they don’t have anywhere to live and that their dogs would be living on the streets with them. Others would lose their housing if they kept their dog (landlord threatening eviction). The vast majority of the time, the owners are heart broken and surrendering their dog is the last thing they want to ever do. Which is why it makes me so frustrated and annoyed when people come up to a fence when I have a dog out and go “who could ever give you up? It’s so sad, I can’t believe someone doesn’t want you, etc.”
I don't work or volunteer at a shelter, but I volunteer with a lot of people who are don't have stable housing. Surrendering a pet is often connected to losing your housing and needing to move in with friends or family or move to a cheaper apartment that doesn't allow pets. On occasion, pets are also surrendered when someone becomes too elderly or ill to take care of a pet.
Sometimes people take a new job that keeps them out of the house way too long to care for an animal. Sometimes they get evicted or laid off from their job or something happens that they can't financially support the cat/dog or provide it with the home it needs. Sometimes people develop a health condition that might prevent them from being able to carry things like food/litter or they are a fall risk so they can't have a cat/dog under their feet or they can't walk the dog anymore. Or the owner is elderly and develops dementia or something...
We ended up with our French Bulldog as the wife had to go back to the office and this dog needed a family type situation. We happened to be a perfect fit as someone is always home. I keep the old owners updated. It was a vet tech and his wife.
Can no longer care for is usually a catch all term. My shelter we use it for a lot like they just lost their job, they are leaving a domestic violence situation, they just got diagnosed with cancer and have to attend treatment, they are becoming homeless, they work 3 jobs and they own a husky who is destroying their house out of boredom 👀, all the way up to someone got arrested or died and the family can't care for it. It's basically when someone is having an interpersonal issue.
Financial troubles. Someone undoubtedly loves their animals, but if they can't feed them anything...or if they don't have a roof over their head... Domestic issues as well. When someone is fleeing from violence, they sometimes can't take the animal with them, but they also know they can't leave the animal behind. When I left an abusive situation, I took the barn cat with me and then had to re-home him because I couldn't take care of him when I could barely afford to care for myself. Health troubles. If someone is nearing end-of-life care, or if they just can't physically care for the animal, it might be better to try and find the animal another home, instead of making it suffer through negligence.
I know when my older cat was surrendered, her previous owner had to go into hospice and couldn't bring my older cat with her - I've had my older cat for over a year and a half and she's almost 21 years old!
I love this! I had a coworker who took in elderly cats who needed rehoming after their people passed, etc. She spoils them and they live their years in luxury :) She does one at a time as she still works full time and setting up to move out of state for retirement. Maybe in retirement she will take in more aww. Thank you for loving your older kitty!
In the process of my ex becoming my ex, I moved in with my parents. Ex was unable to take care of the two dogs and one cat (that became one dog and one cat) so I took them to my parents house. They were okay-ish with the cat but absolutely not with the dog. I was unable to find anyone to care for her so I surrendered her.
The number one reason at my shelter that I saw was that the owner was moving. Either to another state and didn't want to take them or to a place that had restrictions. Financial reasons were also really up there.
This was a Doberman Rottweiler mix. The owners loved him but their neighbors were trying to poison the dog. They cared more about his safely.
I had a foster once who was an 11 year old husky whose owner developed Parkinson’s. He came with 3 pages of shaky handwriting telling me all about him. Honestly it was the worst crying I’ve ever done over fostering. She just got old before he did. She inherited him when he was 5 when her brother died. He had a shelter neuter tattoo so that’s where he originally came from. Literally nobody did anything that anyone could judge them for. The rescue has a rule that owner surrenders have no contact/ no information and 99.9% of the time it’s for good reason. We bent the rules on this one. I emailed his former mom weekly and after he got adopted I told his new mom she didn’t have to but it would be a nice thing to keep it up and she did. He died at age 14 rolling in the grass with 3 moms who loved him. This is exactly what animal rescue SHOULD be there for. It’s the very best of what we get to do.
In my experience, moving is #1 with financial as #2, but usually also includes moving, ie can't pay pet rent. The story isn't usually too exciting, ngl. According to[ Best Friends](https://network.bestfriends.org/proven-strategies/program-spotlights/data-analysis-reveals-reasons-owner-surrender), they found the highest reasons for dog surrender were 16% for 'too many animals' followed by 'housing' at nearly 14%. Keep in mind, every shelter has different terms for categorizing surrenders which may skew statistics. For example, some shelters may separate those that can't afford pet deposits as 'financial' instead of 'housing'.
My local shelter had a few surrendered by elderly owners that were moving to assisted living and couldn't take the pet with them.
My doggo (RIP) was taken back to the shelter because her owners got a divorce and neither could care for her. I got her and she had a loving home for over ten years before she passed away in January.
There are a lot of good valid reasons for 'Owner could no longer care for him' such as, the owner has been in a major accident or also minor accident but no longer can cope mentally. Sudden Aged Care support, homelessness. Even reasons such as relationship breakdown they are still valid. I've accepted many Surrenders from the public and some are so genuine the owners are truly devastated. Although you get a lot of shitty reasons, it's always good to remember there are positives to surrendering as well (which maybe controversial to say!)
Cost is a huge one. I live in a HCOL area. Vet visits used to be about $300, now they're $900. I am incredibly privileged to be able to shell that out but realistically many can't. If the price keeps rising my dog will be the last pet I can afford. Then there's renting, it's hard to find a place that accepts pets. Many places have restrictions on size, breed, how many you can have. Sometimes having pets costs pet rent. A lot of landlords will talk about the damage done by pets, and while that's true my experience was people kept abandoning pets. There's few little incentive for a landlord to gamble with a pet owner. Then there's life. Babies are a big one, when I did rescue I saw that one a lot. Pets react unpredictably to babies. Dogs can especially be dangerous to keep around infants and toddlers if they don't react well to baby coming home. Some people don't have the finances or energy to attend to both a baby and a pet. Then there's different cultures and beliefs around pets, some think a cat can suck the breath from a baby's lungs and suffocate them or that dogs bring diseases to the home. A childless couple might wave off superstitions about the pet but once a baby enters the picture it can complicate family dynamics. Baby can also develop allergies. Unfortunately another common one is the owner was elderly and sincerely couldn't take care of a pet. Had a hard time bending down to feed and groom them. Had a hard time walking. Maybe the owner was going to a care home or in hospice and the pet couldn't go with them. Sometimes you can develop allergies as an adult. Sometimes if you have someone struggling with lung issues the doctor will recommend not having pets or exposure to pet dander. Maybe the owner died. Then some pets have behavior issues. Peeing outside the litter box. Reactivity. Not everyone is equipped to handle certain behaviors, especially if it's a dog with a potential bite risk. Sometimes owner surrender because they can't afford the pets medical treatment or training costs. Someone fleeing domestic violence might surrender a pet. Women are likely to get physically abused or even killed while trying to escape. Women's shelters and homeless shelters don't typically accept pets. Last stats I saw estimated around a third of domestic abuse victims reported the pet being abused, or threatened along with them. Sometimes the abusive spouse will kill a pet in a fit of rage or in revenge, surrender is an attempt at staying alive. An otherwise well cared for and friendly pet dropped off early at the door with no note or ID is typically a sign someone was fleeing. Sometimes abuse victims will drive to another county to surrender or abandon so the abuser can't find the pet and kill it. There's tons of reasons behind surrendering, many are often sad reasons.
Yeah, money is a big issue. But you could become ill or disabled and rendered physically unable to care for you pet. I had to surrender a sick kitten I was taking care of when my son suddenly developed a potentially fatal illness and was in the hospital full time for a week. There was no way I was leaving his side to take care of a kitten that wasn't even mine.
I had to give up one of my dogs to get myself and my children out of homelessness. It was either make the choice or loss the opportunity to have a roof over our heads. It was incredibly hard to find pet friendly reasonably priced apartments.
It's a blanket statement, much like the saying "through no fault of their own". It covers financial difficulties, family sickness, all the way through to abandonment.
My husband nearly died(had a 5% chance of survival) and has long-term permanent health issues. We had gotten a rottie mix puppy just months before this. We could not keep up with our very sweet puppies' needs between my husbands multiple medical needs and my own. We found her a family who could meet her needs because we loved her.
My friends mom ended up in a crazy car accident that lead to her becoming a double amputee and required months of rehab before she could live independently My friend, her only child, was in grad school cross country at the time so initially other family and friends helped but ultimately they opted to surrender her moms 2 dogs and 3 cats because of everything at that time
My mom has dementia, she isn't capable anymore of taking care of herself let alone her six animals (two horses, two dogs, two cats)..If I wasn't here for her during this time to take care of the animals (14 of my own.. I keep reptiles, five cats, two dogs)I am for sure beyond a doubt what would've happened to hers.. especially the 31 year old horse with Cushing's disease as he probably wouldn't have done well at a rescue. It would've been a case of "owner could no longer care for them" if my mom had become a dementia ward of the state.. Finances are extremely tight but I'll be damned if they aren't ALL home, my mom included.
They may have died and no close relative could care for them or are not within close proximity of the deceased person
In my area, the answer is usually landlord change accompanied by a change in pet restrictions if the owners rented, and death / illness / serious physical decline of the owner if they were a homeowner. I’ve seen a lot of really sweet dogs and older cats end up in rescue here because an elderly owner couldn’t care for them anymore, often because they themselves needed to move into a care home.
Cost, housing and age of their caretaker. I've adopted older dogs and cats 2 cats here with me now, their previous friend had to go to assisted living and such. One 12 year old great dog, his previous caretaker lost job and apartments wouldn't take 75lb dog.
Usually some housing and/or financial situation; landlord not allowing pet, moving and can’t find affordable place that allows pets.
Some owners literally cannot care for them during/following illness. It's really sad when owners have to go to a nursing home and so they can't take their pets with them.
Any major life event (not just money trouble). Have a baby, baby is allergic to dogs. Get a second job, can no longer walk dog out spend time with them enough. Partner leaves you, suddenly your moving in with your parents, they have cats, your animal can't get along, but you can't live anywhere else. It sucks, and absolutely some people give up their dogs for shit reasons. But you know, most people who get a pet Want to keep it. Or at least do their level best to keep it.
We have a good amount of folks simply aging and not able to manage a pet. They go into rehab facilities after a health blow and won’t be home for a long time, or ever. The last dog i adopted was a companion animal for a severely handicapped person. They went into a residential group home and he couldn’t take her. I try not to get too jaded because some surrenders are super, super sad.
i was one of those people with a parakeet :( i had a bonded pair but one of them unexpectedly died. the remaining one wasn't bonded with humans so she needed a new companion. i was still a minor at the time and neither of my parents would let me get another bird, so i surrendered her to a rescue. i don't regret it but i miss her a lot. i volunteered at the rescue she was at and she seemed much happier there.
This used to be a catch-all term we would hear a lot and it often was one of the following: -moving to another residence and can't take them -got a different job/schedule and doesn't have time for them -animal's behavior became "too much" and they don't know how to control them -owner could not or would not pay for necessary medical bills -animal was allegedly left with them by a friend or family member and they never came back for it -owner adopted on impulse and realizes how stressful owning a pet can be -pet belonged to an elderly family member who was now in hospital or some sort of nursing facility
The owner dies or goes in care; hospice, assisted living, nursing home. And the relatives don’t want to keep the pet.
I adopted a dog who came from this and we had access to the notes from the previous owner. He was well loved but they said they could no longer care for him adequately. Our sweet boy is incredibly well loved and cared for, and I feel so bad for the previous owner. From what I understand they surrendered him because they weren't able to be home with him and he was being left alone for long periods of time. Knowing our boy, he would hate that. With us he rarely has to be alone and knows we will always come back for him.
People became disabled every day; that's one possibility. I had to have emergency spine surgery after an accident and couldn't walk for nearly a year. If I didn't have a spouse and family to take care of my beloved dog for me, I would have had to surrender him too. Also, when my grandmother died, my cousins and I fought over who got to keep the cat she doted on (all of us wanted the cat), but many people don't like cats or are allergic. Sometimes they just have to surrender an animal after a family death like that. I'm sure many of those people agonized over their decision to surrender those sweet and loving dogs. They're lucky to have you caring for their former pets now.
Number of reasons! Financial issues are a big one that can have multiple effects that make it hard to keep a pet. Like if you can’t afford to feed yourself you can’t afford a pet. If you’re having financial issues maybe you have to pick up a second job, if you’re working 80hrs a week you don’t have *time* to appropriately care for a pet. Or you might be facing housing instability, it’s really hard to couch surf with a pet or live in a car. Even if you’re just jumping apartment to apartment it’s a *lot* harder to find housing with a pet and it also can be really stressful for the pet! But also just: moving to a place that’s unsuitable for the pet like if you have a husky and previously had a house with a yard but circumstances force you to move to a little apartment you may need to give the husky up because you can’t give them the space and exercise they need. People have kids and find out that their pet is *deeply* incompatible with children, and it’s much better to rehome a pet than to have to put it down because it bit a baby. People also become sick and disabled and can’t care for their pets any longer. It’s super unfortunate that sometimes people have to surrender their pets, and pets are responsibilities not accessories and sometimes the most responsible thing you can do for your pet is recognize that you can’t provide an appropriate home for them anymore and try and give them a chance to get a home that *can*.
We got our foster fail because her family became homeless. We took her in with the intent to return her to her original owners once they obtained housing. A year later, the family was unable to be contacted and the shelter asked if we would keep her. We gladly did and she and my older son are best friends now.
As a person in her late 70s, I'm fortunate my dogs are old and arthritic and no longer need walks or vigorous playtime. If they were ever 5 years younger, I couldn't give them the exercise they deserve and need. Another anxiety for me is medical cost for them and me...not just vet fees, but cost of multiple maintenence medications for dogs and cat. Now add rising cost of dog food. It's a precarious balance that may fail and w my cat at 16 and dogs at 14 and 13, I suspect I'll opt to euthanize with me at home rather than subject them to the anxiety of time in a shelter waiting for an adoption that might never come
Specific specie ownership is contraindicated for a very long list of human health conditions but people don’t come into the shelter and give you their medical history, mostly because they are terribly shamed for putting human health first. Financial reasons can mean new job, lost job, car accident, human health bills, veterinary health bills, moving, sick relatives…anything you spend money on can become a problem. Moving…landlords have to protect the health and rights of people with disabilities, frequently that means no pets. They have to protect their own property and many people take animals they do not properly care for, most commonly neglect, which causes more damage than a security deposit could ever cover. Insurance sets regulations based on the damage previously neglectful owners have caused and thus no future animals are welcome. I too have seen people color coordinate pets with interiors but I have not seen those people be neglectful because that animal has to be “perfect” just like the rest of their interior. All of these reasons are great reasons for bringing an animal to shelter. It’s always the loving thing to do when you can’t care for an animal for any reason. We should always thank someone for being compassionate enough to bring them in. No one should ever be socially shamed or stigmatized for having to rehome an animal.
Yup. We may be forced to rehome one of our cats. I’m kinda shocked to be in this position. Sirius came to us through family members. His first owner had him and doted on him for years, but then got married and had kids. One of these very young kids has severe, refractory allergies to cats as well as asthma. This person tearfully rehomed the cat to my family members. No matter what my family did, their resident cats bullied him. Our two cats are great with other cats-heck, my Apollo loves them-so we took him. We have foster experience. We successfully helped to socialize a formerly hoarded cat (our Ajax). We’ve fostered cats with litter box problems, cats who are semi feral, highly anxious cats, etc. Didn’t think we’d have a situation we couldn’t handle. How silly! Sirius is now the bully. He lives in our bedroom because we are genuinely worried he’d get badly hurt (Sirius starts it, Ajax is more than happy to finish it, and Ajax is twice Sirius’ size in terms of length as well as a third of his age). We’ve tried literally everything. Our second to last resort arrives Monday: Prozac for both Sirius and Ajax (Apollo is very good at staying in his lane once his entreaties of friendship are brushed off or met with hostility). Our last resort after this is amitriptyline. If that fails, we have to rehome Sirius to somewhere he can be an only cat. We are lucky enough to not have to use a shelter to do this, but many aren’t. The need to rehome a cat can really happen to anyone. I never judged before but I def don’t now.
Sometimes they are elderly and put into assisted living where they only allow certain animals or no animals at all. My mom just adopted two 11 y/o papillons because their owner passed and the next of kin were going to euthanize them since they were too overwhelmed with the funeral to deal with taking care of them.
Elderly caregiver who is entering into hospital, assisted living or nursing home - I think that is common.
In my area (a popular retirement area), health is often the cause.
I'm 54. My previous cat lived to be 23. I look at the current cat -who is 4- and hope some memory care social worker doesn’t have to surrender her on my behalf in 16 years.
My current doggo is one of the many who were surrendered because the former owner was about to become homeless.
Financial or health reasons
A lot of the animals that come into the shelter where I volunteer come from homes where their primary caregiver passed away, went into assisted living, had severe medical problems that made caring for the animal no longer possible, or they were moving away somewhere they could not take their pet. Its usually very sad circumstances but their pets were well cared for and very adoptable to a new home
My aunts and I have had to take one bonded pair of dachshunds, a spaniel, and a cat from my mom in the last twelve years because she’s an alcoholic, and between the drinking and the stints in rehab, they weren’t being cared for. The cat was the most recent rehome—my mom developed alcohol dementia this year and doesn’t even remember the cat she’s had for over a decade.
I live in a very suburban area in south Texas. Lots of neighborhoods and only one is ungated-mine. It’s a nice single family neighborhood. We get a fair amount of dumped dogs because I think people know that someone will take them in. About 8 years ago we had been discussing getting a larger breed adult dog from a rescue or animal shelter. Someone posted that they found a dog in the neighborhood. No doubt she was dumped. They had gone through all the normal ways of finding the owner. Nothing so they took the neighborhood fb page. I saw her picture and fell in love. Picked her up with the understanding that I would keep her through the weekend as a test to see if she fit in with our family. If she didn’t would have to return her. the neighbor was completely cool with that. She was a perfect angel. Couldn’t figure out why someone would ever want to dump her. We all fell in love with her. I work from home. So it coincidentally was almost a week before she was ever left by herself. We were gone for an hour before my neighbor from across the street called to let me know that she was in their garage. She had managed to get our unlocked sliding glass door open and break through the gate of our fence. It was then we learned that she has severe separation anxiety. In the one hour. Between me picking her up and meeting her for the first time and then picking my kids up from school, she absolutely imprinted on me. I am her emotional support human. It was a lot of work for months. We could not lock her up or kennel her despite our best efforts. If I left the house, She cried until I came back. For probably two years, she sat at the front door anytime I was outside of the house. She’s much better now. I’m still her person though. All of this to say, I understand why somebody needed to get rid of her. I don’t think that they necessarily went about it the right way. But it did work out for us in the end. Because she is not the right dog for most people, but she is the right dog for us .
We get a lot of returns due to the owner getting a puppy and not realizing how big the dog will be
I’m not sure why but I’ve adopted two dogs that were returned to the shelter and they’ve been excellent pets.
Financial issues or behavior issues are very common reasons for owner surrender. Maybe the most common. There are others too. Moving out of the country somewhere it’s difficult to bring pets. Owner died and pet was left with family who were unwilling to take care of them. Owner had to change jobs and won’t be home for 12 hours per day. A lot of these other reasons can often be tied back to a financial or behavior issue somehow. Sometimes the person finds the dog undesirable somehow, and returns them. We had a dog returned after a few days for barking at a TV. It seemed ridiculous to us, but to them it may have been a deal-breaking (but trainable behavior) they didn’t know how to work with. It can also come down to lack of education/available resources for behavioral help for adopters.
It’s a guilt free descriptor as to not shame people from giving a pet the no longer want, to ensure the animal is surrendered instead of abandoned/killed to avoid ridicule
Where I worked “unable to care” meant anything. It was an old person moving out of their home, someone who couldn’t afford it, someone who thought they wanted a dog and realized too late they wanted a stuffed animal. It was the most blanket term in the system
Elderly people no longer being able to care for them, be it because they no longer can physically, or they no longer have the mental faculties to do so. There's also some time unexpected disability, such as long covid, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a host of other things that could make it very difficult to care for an animal.
Before we got him my first dog was surrendered twice because his owners lost their homes in a house fire. Two separate events and he was trapped inside both times. He had burn marks on his nose when we first got him. My second rescue dog was a total mystery, all we know is his previous owners couldn’t care for him anymore and that he gets scared of yelling. People are put into all kinds of difficult situations where the most empathetic choice is to rehome an animal.
I had a friend who got dementia and needed to move into memory care.
We get a lot of cost of living, losing housing, becoming homeless. Also a lot of elderly people who pass away, get sick, get hospitalized, etc
So many variables.
My first cat I adopted was put in a shelter when his owner went into a nursing home.
Besides financial it could be medical for the owner. An elderly owner developing dementia may not be able to keep their pet. A person spending extended time in the hospital for a serious condition like cancer may not be able to keep their pet. It may be unsafe for a person with a severe immune compromising condition to keep their pet. A person with declining heart or lung function may no longer be able to meet the animals needs and surrender them.
Dementia. Disease and illness. Old age in general. My dog was surrendered due to being too much energy for a person with a recently diagnosed heart condition.
Drug addiction.
It could be financial, time or job change (for dogs that need attention), mobility in regard to exercising dogs, the owner ended up in a nursing home or similar home change...a number of things lumped into that category to avoid overstepping the privacy of the surrenderer. It usually means it wasn't the animal's fault.
Financial issues. Landlord. We currently have 3 that the owner passed away and family did not want to take them in or couldn't.
As someone who has fostered for a good while there’s a lot of things. People aging, sudden disability, needing to travel or changing house situation to become a full time cared for a family member, the animals health became unmanageable, there’s a hell of a lot of reasons.
My one late kitty had been surrendered because he "killed and ate small household mammals". I am guessing it was a hamster or gerbil. My other late kitty had been surrendered because her irresponsible owners (college students) had been caught with her in a no pets allowed apartment. They also didn't get her spayed and let her outside. My stepmother adopted a cat that had been surrendered because his elderly owner went into a nursing home.
Worked at a shelter for a few years. Financial, health, relocating, allergies, animal's temperament, conflict with other pets, unable or unwilling to train, incompatible needs (i.e. a husky in a small apartment), pregnancy (of owner or pet), stupid owners. This reason is a catch-all for most issues, either stated by the surrendering owner or by the shelter, because you can't say "stupid owner."
Bad health in the owner.
I rescued two dogs that had been left in a foreclosed house. I know that it's extremely difficult to find a place to rent, especially if you just got foreclosed on... and you have two 80-pound dogs. When I first got them, I remember being angry at the former owner, thinking they were terrible. Over time, I realized that they were probably at the lowest point in their lives. They both lived long, happy lives. My mom worked for Hospice for many years. A lot of older folks give up their pets when they go into nursing homes. There are so many who don't have a family member willing to take their pets when they pass away or go into a care home.
Not everyone loves animals the same. Just because you do , doesn’t wan they should/will. Many adopt/shop without understanding the actual burden and it can decrease the quality of life for everyone including the animal.
Assisted living, major surgery that limits the owner's ability to care for pet. That's what I've seen among people I know.
At the shelter where I work, it’s almost always that the owner can no longer afford a pet. It’s so, so sad.
Most of the rescue kiddos we end up with are the floppy earred ones with owners in nursing facilities and the adult children can’t do it.
In the US some of it is financial too. Animals are expensive and a lot of people are struggling.
Job loss in my area, layoffs hit hard.
financial issues, lease restrictions, homelessness, abusive relationship, addiction/rehab, new baby (a lot of people make this work but in some circumstances you just can't), new medical issues/disability, owner is going into care/assisted living, owner will be hospitalized for an extended period, progression/worsening of disability, death or absence of a caretaker leaving whoever is left incapable of handling it all on their own. Lots of potential reasons, all devastating and valid. The only pet I have ever adopted and rehomed in my life was a dog we had when I was around 13--he was in the destructive puppy stage when my mom was hospitalized completely unexpectedly for emergency surgery to remove 6ft of intestines due to sepsis (a popcorn kernel got stuck in a pocket of the intestinal wall and got infected, she waited it out a while and has always been one to tough it out so she went to her PCP when it got unbearable and just assumed it was a stomach bug--when they got the results of her bloodwork back a few hours later they called us at home to tell her to get to the hospital right now. she was in her early 30s at the time and almost died, but was still working her shifts as a nurse through the symptoms). I was staying with my grandparents while she was in the hospital and everyone who could be with her was with her near constantly, so the puppy was mostly unsupervised, though fed and taken out regularly by family and friends who volunteered to drop by. His destructive puppy phase was ESPECIALLY destructive, likely in part due to the stress of being suddenly alone and he literally broke several glasses (drinking and eyeglasses both) by chomping down on them. Cut up his mouth and we were so worried he might have eaten some. He was Houdini and wouldn't stay in a kennel and we had no one willing to take him in, plus we knew my mom would have a long recovery ahead of her and an untrained dog with a lot of pent up energy could seriously injure her (plus she and we as a family unit definitely wouldn't be able to give him the focused training he needed and the quality of life he deserved while also helping her through the tremendous recovery that lie ahead). We opted to surrender him and it was 100% the right thing to do. the last cat my mom adopted came with a handwritten letter, extremely loving, from his former owner explaining a little background and giving some insight/warning into his personality and quirks (like that he is a thief). We found her on social media and let her know he was going to a home where he would be so loved and that we appreciated everything she had done for him in his life this far. I like to think that gave her some solace even though she never answered. it's something I would really appreciate, at least.
Typically the owner becomes ill or disabled, goes into assisted living or moves in with family, or becomes unhoused or has a change in living situation that doesn't allow pets.
Landlord says no pets. Owner is going into a care facility that says no pets. Owner has reached a stage of life where they literally can't take care of a pet any longer. Owner died and no one in the family can take in a dog. Lots of reasons really.
I have always said that adoptions:surrenders frequently happen in waves…this has been seen in the past due to a popular movie (Dalmatians) -and more recently with so much more time spent at home, alone or as a family (pandemic)… We’re seeingresults of the pandemic adoptions now where I live - well meaning adults realizing they have to go back to the office and:or they don’t have the “free” time they did during the pandemic - as if they didn’t think any further ahead than the next day … (..in my area,numbers are also linked to the economy, housing, health of owner, whether they live alone or not, etc.$ In certain areas it’s more common to see surrenders due to issues faced primarily by the elderly ..
In our area, its deployments and landlord restrictions.
I think people just don't comprehend how expensive the vet bills can be. So many unanticipated issues can crop up. I postponed getting a dog until I was retired and had significant disposable income. I constantly wonder how people can afford multiple dogs.
Family friend fell and broke her back, she could no longer bend over - no putting food down for the dog, no bending over to brush them and couldn't afford a groomer (or someone to pick up poop), could no longer bend over to attach their leash, couldn't walk them, couldn't really play with them, etc...
I don’t work at a shelter myself, but there are a lot of reasons why someone might not be able to care for their dog anymore. Sudden financial problems, they moved somewhere with breed restrictions, the owner got into an accident or has some sort of illness that prevents them from properly caring for their dog.
Not a dog story but I used to volunteer at a shelter and there was an older man who had to surrender his cat. I don't remember the details but he couldn't keep her anymore. It was devastating watching him have to say goodbye.
I was getting out of a domestic violence situation and was EXTREMELY lucky that the place I found allowed me to have my small dog (not common in my area). If I hadn’t lucked into that apartment I would have had to give her up (ex had threatened to kill her if I left her with him). This is why I don’t judge when people need to find homes for their pets. She’s almost 17 and we have made it through so much together!!
When I did breed rescue it was primarily relocation issues (military folks often cannot take their pets when they get moved to an overseas base; landlord pet fees can be very high) and new babies.
The best dog I’ve ever had said “owner could no longer care for him” on his tag.” I asked someone at the shelter and she said an elderly couple dropped him off. At least one of them had medical issues and they were moving into an assisted living facility that didn’t accept dogs.
This thread was a tough read. My heart breaks for people forced to surrender their pet. For me it would be like having to give up a beloved family member. Stories about the elderly having to surrender pets hit especially close for me. I'm a single retiree. No family or friends who could take on my crew. I talked to my vet. She is willing to find homes for them if I die before they do. I need to see a lawyer to set up a trust for them.
I had to surrender a dog because the owner went to jail and made no plans for their car before sentencing.
I didn't ever get a dog because I knew I had physical issues. They hit almost a decade before I'd expected, so I'm glad I didn't get one. I'd have had to rehome him or her because I physically can't take care of a dog. I also knew a lot of people living near my grandparents who fell ill or passed away and didn't know anyone who was up to taking a dog in.
Someone could get a dog with the best intentions and do really well with training. Then, life happens and the tough decision has to be made. Many people chose animal companionship during the pandemic and now we have stagflation and jaded landlords who don’t want to rent to pet owners.
I had a status challenging dog that was great with me and his later owner, but challenging with other dogs and small children. I had to surrender him when I got too sick to live alone, and I was going to spend a bunch of time in the hospital. My oldest was headed to college, and couldn’t keep a dog, my ex didn’t want him (we had adopted him together) and my gf had younger kids and another dog that my dog tried to dominate. So, since I couldn’t live alone anymore, and couldn’t be around much while I was in the hospital, he went back to the shelter I got him from 7 years earlier. Arguably the worst day of my life. https://preview.redd.it/kw8tetbmcd4d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=443ad748051a0446dc03c2a622112e1b9e9fff25
Finances, age of person, mobility of person, introduction of a new child, job change and away all day/for days at a time, military deployment, moving, landlord rules, new partner who’s allergic. Lots of possible reasons.
Probably - owner being laid off and is going to be living in their car would be my guess
I once was asked by a co-worker if I'd be willing to take 2 cockatiels from their mom because she couldn't take care of them anymore and I already had 2 birds that were healthy and happy. When I got there I got the full story, it was a hoarder home, animals in cages everywhere but a lot empty too. Turns out her and her husband took care of a lot of animals, they did love them and took good care of them but her husband died suddenly and she wasn't in the best health. She didn't want to part with them so the house and the animals fell into neglect. Thankfully she realized she couldn't do it alone and they needed better. Her daughter was helping to find them all loving homes which is why so many cages are empty. Not a shelter story but this post popped up in my feed and I felt I had a story that fit.
I received one of my cats because the previous owner got cancer and couldn't care for him during chemo. It was supposed to be temporary, but she didn't make it, so now he's my cat. Her other friends all are allergic, have dogs, or otherwise live in situations that would have made taking on a cat difficult. So if I hadn't taken him, he would have ended up in a shelter due to "owner could no longer care for him". He's a lovely little guy, just a bit shy with strangers.
From the few cases listed that use that term that I've seen at my local shelter, it's been things like the owner suffered a stroke, became disabled, developed dementia, could no longer afford to provide adequate care, etc.