January 8, 2010Comments are closed.adoptions, cats, marketing
Cats have it tough. Newspapers offer free cats daily, adult cats aren’t really a ‘hot item’ and everyone looking to adopt wants a kitten. However, despite an incredibly high rates of euthanasia of cats and a reported lack of homes, many animal welfare groups have been critical of fee-waived adoption programs. But could “free cats” hold the key to dramatically increased adoptions?
If you’ve followed my blog for any time, you’ll know that I have written pieces against free adoptions (here and here). I’m all for making adoptable pets made more valuable, rather then drop their cost. But like many things in rescue, the answer isn’t black or white, but one of a many shades of grey, with rescue groups having to find solutions which get results in their community. And as the research below shows, there is great potential to make free cat adoption a tool in the modern rescuer’s arsenal.
A Comparison of Attachment Levels of Adopters of Cats: Fee-Based Adoptions Versus Free Adoption, published in Vol. 4 2009 of the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, has explored the attitudes of new adopters and the relationship between them and their new pets – those who paid an adoption fee, vs those who adopted during fee-waived adoption promotions:
Animal welfare organizations take the adoption process as perhaps the greatest responsibility of their jobs. Without research supporting their assumptions, animal welfare agencies risk coming to conclusions that may not be correct. Disregarding new adoption programs minimizes opportunities for animals to find homes.
In order to explore if animal welfare professionals have valid concerns regarding the free adult cat adoption program, there was a need for more research to investigate how people value their free adult cat in comparison with those who
paid a fee for their cat. Using the Lexington Attachment to Pet Scale we measured attitude of two groups of adult cat adopters; one group paid a $75 adoption fee and the other paid no adoption fee.
The study found there was essentially no difference between the two groups;
– Attachment to cats adopted from the study facility was not decreased when adoption fees were eliminated,
– Eliminating adoption fees does not devalue the animals in the eyes of the adopters, and that
– Free adult cat programs could “dramatically impact the lives of thousands of shelter cats who would otherwise reside in a shelter for months or be euthanized.”
I think we’re quick to judge adopters without any evidence that our fears are justified. If you’ve ever wondered whether waiving your adoption fee might work for your organisation, this research supports the idea that a well run program has the potential to find more homes and positively affect the cat overpopulation by putting more desexed cats into the community… without leading to a drop in quality adoptions.
The ASPCA has more information on implementing a program and how to engage everyone both internally and externally to your organisation. Take a look!
