Predictors of Successful Diversion Away From Shelters
External link: Ly LH, Protopopova A. Predictors of successful diversion of cats and dogs away from animal shelter intake: Analysis of data from a self-rehoming website. Animal Welfare. 2023;32:e13. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2023.8
Outcome of Supported Self-Rehoming
Dogs: 12.9% were relinquished to a shelter or rescue; the remaining 87.1% were diverted (54.2% adopted, 32.9% kept by original owners).
Cats: 14.3% were relinquished to a shelter or rescue; the remaining 85.7% were diverted (55.4% adopted, 30.3% kept by original owners).
Dogs: Predictors of Diversion Away From Shelters
Characteristic
Total (N)
Total (%)
Diverted (N)
Diverted (%)
Adopted (%)
Kept (%)
Sex
Male
54,390
54.20%
47,435
87.20%
62%
38%
Female
45,952
45.80%
40,005
87.10%
62%
38%
Age
Puppy
19,630
19.60%
17,443
88.90%
64%
36%
Young
43,512
43.40%
37,964
87.20%
63%
37%
Adult
32,125
32.00%
27,789
86.50%
61%
39%
Senior
5,075
5.10%
4,244
83.60%
61%
39%
Good with cats
True
32,122
32.00%
28,577
89.00%
63%
37%
False
68,220
68.00%
58,863
86.30%
62%
38%
Good with dogs
True
74,808
74.60%
65,889
88.10%
63%
37%
False
25,534
25.40%
21,551
84.40%
59%
41%
Good with children
True
75,349
75.10%
66,504
88.30%
63%
37%
False
24,993
24.90%
20,936
83.80%
59%
41%
House-trained
True
83,759
83.50%
73,231
87.40%
62%
38%
False
16,583
16.50%
14,209
85.70%
64%
36%
Purebred
True
27,241
27.10%
24,741
90.80%
62%
38%
False
73,101
72.90%
62,699
85.80%
62%
38%
Microchipped
True
47,582
47.40%
40,777
85.70%
61%
39%
False
52,760
52.60%
46,663
88.40%
63%
37%
Needs experienced adopter
True
29,115
29.00%
24,949
85.70%
56%
44%
False
71,227
71.00%
62,491
87.70%
65%
35%
Special needs
True
6,500
6.50%
5,407
83.20%
54%
46%
False
93,842
93.50%
82,033
87.40%
63%
37%
Spay/neuter status
True
71,377
71.10%
61,712
86.50%
62%
38%
False
28,965
28.90%
25,728
88.80%
63%
37%
Rehome deadline
Short
24,950
24.90%
20,448
82.00%
67%
33%
Medium
44,908
44.80%
39,094
87.10%
64%
36%
Long
17,593
17.50%
16,045
91.20%
58%
42%
None
12,891
12.80%
11,853
91.20%
55%
45%
Photographs on profile
0
2,141
2.10%
1,880
87.80%
50%
50%
1
13,211
13.20%
11,502
87.10%
60%
40%
2
17,091
17.00%
14,867
87.00%
62%
38%
3
17,891
17.90%
15,624
87.30%
64%
36%
4
50,008
49.80%
43,567
87.10%
63%
37%
Rehome reason
Behavioural issues
17,379
17.30%
14,500
83.40%
55%
45%
Cost issues
4,163
4.10%
3,548
85.20%
55%
45%
Abandoned or found
8,108
8.10%
6,904
85.20%
69%
31%
Housing issues
23,615
23.50%
20,705
87.70%
65%
35%
Human health issues
8,574
8.50%
7,460
87.00%
64%
36%
Personal issues
36,049
35.90%
32,153
89.20%
62%
38%
None listed
2,454
2.40%
2,170
88.40%
75%
25%
Dog size
Small
28,885
28.80%
25,929
89.80%
65%
35%
Medium
45,638
45.50%
39,078
85.60%
62%
38%
Large
25,819
25.70%
22,433
86.90%
59%
41%
Breed group
Terrier
19,400
19.30%
16,499
85.00%
61%
39%
Herding
18,007
17.90%
15,723
87.30%
61%
39%
Hound
10,138
10.10%
8,657
85.40%
62%
38%
Sporting
16,880
16.80%
14,644
86.80%
62%
38%
Toy
17,828
17.80%
16,159
90.60%
64%
36%
Working
18,089
18.00%
15,758
87.10%
62%
38%
Age: Compared to puppies, the odds of diversion decreased with age:
Young dogs: 10% decrease
Adult dogs: 28% decrease
Senior dogs: 48% decrease
Size: Compared to small dogs, the odds of diversion decreased for:
Medium dogs: 0.75 times
Large dogs: 0.79 times
Breed Group (Compared to Terrier):
Increased odds of diversion: Working (OR = 1.13), Sporting (OR = 1.12), Herding (OR = 1.21), Toy (OR = 1.53).
Decreased odds of diversion: Hound (OR = 0.88).
Purebred Status: Purebred dogs had 1.56 times greater odds of being diverted compared to mixed breed dogs.
Behavior and Health Status:
Increased odds of diversion:
Good with cats: 1.14 times (OR = 1.14)
Good with other dogs: 1.16 times (OR = 1.16)
Good with children: 1.30 times (OR = 1.30)
House-trained: 1.28 times (OR = 1.28)
Decreased odds of diversion:
Microchipped: 0.84 times (OR = 0.84)
Spayed/Neutered: 0.89 times (OR = 0.89)
Needs experienced adopter: 0.92 times (OR = 0.92)
Special needs: 0.74 times (OR = 0.74)
Owner Circumstance (Rehoming Deadline & Reason):
Rehoming Deadline (Compared to short deadline): Odds of diversion increased for:
Medium deadlines: 1.60 times (OR = 1.60)
Long deadlines: 2.6 times (OR = 2.60)
No deadline: 2.89 times (OR = 2.89)
Rehome Reason (Compared to animal behavior issues): Greater odds of diversion for dogs rehomed due to:
Housing issues: 1.45 times (OR = 1.45)
Human health issues: 1.23 times (OR = 1.23)
Personal issues: 1.36 times (OR = 1.36)
Diverted Dogs: Rehomed vs. Kept by Original Owners
Out of 87,440 diverted dogs, 37.8% (33,053) were kept by their owners, while 62.2% (54,387) were rehomed (adopted out).
Size (Compared to small dogs): Both medium (OR = 1.16) and large (OR = 1.22) dogs were more likely to be kept by their owners.
Breed Group (Compared to Terrier breeds):
Decreased odds of being kept: Herding (OR = 0.91), Sporting (OR = 0.89), Toy (OR = 0.87), and Working (OR = 0.87) breeds.
Behavior and Health Status:
Slightly decreased odds of being kept: Good with cats (OR = 0.94) or children (OR = 0.92).
Decreased odds of being kept: Spayed/neutered (7% decreased, OR = 0.93).
Increased odds of being kept: Needs experienced adopter (OR = 1.30) and special needs (OR = 1.20).
Photographs on Profile: As the number of photos increased, the odds of an owner keeping their dog decreased (e.g., four photographs OR = 0.55 compared to none).
Owner Circumstance (Rehoming Deadline & Reason):
Rehoming Deadline (Compared to short deadline): Odds of keeping the dog increased for:
Medium deadline: 1.15 times (OR = 1.15)
Long deadline: 1.47 times (OR = 1.47)
No deadline: 1.73 times (OR = 1.73)
Rehome Reason (Compared to animal behavior issues): Lower odds of being kept for dogs rehomed due to:
Owner’s personal issues: 0.40 times (OR = 0.40)
Originally abandoned or found: 0.60 times (OR = 0.60)
Housing-related issues: 0.75 times (OR = 0.75)
Human-health issues: 0.80 times (OR = 0.80)
Marginally increased odds of being kept: Cost-related issues (OR = 1.10).
Cats: Predictors of Diversion Away From Shelters
Age: As age increased, odds of diversion decreased, compared to kittens:
Young cats: 21% decrease (OR = 0.79)
Adult cats: 38% decrease (OR = 0.62)
Senior cats: 49% decrease (OR = 0.51)
Purebred Status: Purebred cats had 1.87 times greater odds of diversion compared to mixed breed cats.
Behavior and Health Status:
Good with dogs: 1.13 times increased odds of diversion (OR = 1.13)
Good with children: 1.23 times increased odds of diversion (OR = 1.23)
Microchipped cats: 0.81 times less chance of diversion (OR = 0.81)
Good with other cats: No significant change.
Photographs on Profile: Compared to no photographs, cats with:
Three photographs: 1.33 times greater odds of diversion (OR = 1.33)
Four photographs: 1.47 times greater odds of diversion (OR = 1.47)
Owner Circumstance (Rehoming Deadline & Reason):
Rehoming Deadline (Compared to short deadline): Odds of diversion increased for:
Medium deadlines: 1.40 times (OR = 1.40)
Long deadlines: 2.17 times (OR = 2.17)
No deadline: 2.24 times (OR = 2.24)
Rehome Reason: Cats rehomed because they were abandoned or found had 0.76 times decreased odds of diversion (OR = 0.76).
Diverted Cats: Rehomed vs. Kept by Original Owners
Out of 41,553 diverted cats, 35.3% (14,679) were kept by their original owners, while the remaining 64.4% (26,874) were adopted to a new home.
Age (Compared to kittens): Cats in all three older age groups had increased odds of being kept by their owners:
Young cats: 1.33 times (OR = 1.33)
Adult cats: 1.30 times (OR = 1.30)
Senior cats: 1.51 times (OR = 1.51)
Purebred Status: Purebred cats had 0.86 times decreased odds of being kept compared to mixed breed cats.
Behavior and Health Status:
Good with children: Slightly decreased odds of being kept (OR = 0.93).
Needs experienced adopter: 1.39 times greater odds of being kept (OR = 1.39).
Special needs: 1.41 times greater odds of being kept (OR = 1.41).
House-trained: 1.33 times greater odds of being kept (OR = 1.33).
Spayed/neutered: 0.90 times decreased odds of being kept compared to intact cats (OR = 0.90).
Photographs on Profile: As the number of photographs increased, the odds of a cat being kept by its owner decreased (e.g., four photographs OR = 0.50 compared to none).
Owner Circumstance (Rehoming Deadline & Reason):
Rehoming Deadline (Compared to short deadline):
No significant difference for medium deadlines.
Long deadlines: 1.15 times more likely to be kept (OR = 1.15).
No deadline: 1.37 times more likely to be kept (OR = 1.37).
Rehome Reason (Compared to animal behavior issues): Lower odds of being kept for cats rehomed due to:
Housing-related issues: 0.70 times (OR = 0.70)
Human health issues: 0.64 times (OR = 0.64)
Personal issues: 0.51 times (OR = 0.51)
Originally abandoned or found: 0.75 times (OR = 0.75).
Cost-related issues: Only marginally increased odds of being kept (OR = 1.10).
External link: Gunter LM, Gilchrist RJ, Blade EM, Reed JL, Isernia LT, Barber RT, Foster AM, Feuerbacher EN and Wynne CDL (2022) Emergency Fostering of Dogs From Animal Shelters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shelter Practices, Foster Caregiver Engagement, and Dog Outcomes. Front. Vet. Sci. 9:862590. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.862590
Shelter Procedures During Pandemic
Category
Process / Procedure
% of Shelters
Behavior
Routine behavioral assessment
52.63%
Dog-dog assessment
57.89%
– One-on-one with another dog
45.45%
– Combination of one-on-one & group interactions
45.45%
– Group interactions
9.09%
Behavior personnel on staff
41.60%
Veterinary
Stopped or reduced number of spay-neuter surgeries
63.16%
Reduced number of in-house veterinarians
36.84%
Reduced partnerships with outside veterinary clinics
15.79%
Did not require spay-neuter surgery before adoption
26.32%
Adoption Procedures
Meeting requirements
– Humans in the household
10.53%
– Dogs in the household
21.05%
Meeting location
– Meet at shelter
84.21%
– Meet at foster caregiver’s home
42.11%
Paperwork location
– Completed at shelter
94.74%
– Completed with foster caregiver
26.32%
– Completed with shelter, remotely
78.95%
– Completed with foster caregiver, remotely
5.26%
Adopted dog pick-up
– Inside the shelter
94.74%
– Drive-through, at shelter
52.63%
– At foster caregiver’s home
57.89%
Adoption Process:
Nearly 90% of organizations did not require all family members to meet the dog prior to adoption.
Only 21.05% of shelters required meetings between any resident dog(s) and the shelter dog.
Foster Care Practices:
Novel approaches to foster animal pickup were implemented during the pandemic.
The most common approach was drive-through style (36.13%).
Other approaches included:
Caregiver going inside the shelter (31.73%)
Outdoor pickup with staff (28.38%)
Other methods (3.76%)
Foster Caregivers
Number of resident dogs (% of foster caregivers)
Caregiver’s Relationship to the Shelter
Fostering type
Number
%
0
1
2
3
4+
No prior relationship
New community member
Puppy
52
3%
71.15
21.15
5.77
1.92
0.00
Dog
622
37%
74.60
18.33
5.14
1.29
0.64
Prior relationship
Shelter volunteer
Puppy
16
1%
62.50
18.75
12.50
6.25
0.00
Dog
67
4%
70.15
19.40
4.48
5.97
0.00
Returning community member
Puppy
72
4%
80.56
12.50
6.94
0.00
0.00
Dog
146
9%
69.86
15.75
4.11
2.74
7.53
Returning foster caregiver
Puppy
187
11%
28.88
15.51
27.27
17.11
11.23
Dog
400
24%
43.75
29.00
11.00
12.00
4.25
Staff
Puppy
44
3%
0.00
34.09
20.45
20.45
25.00
Dog
80
5%
10.00
20.00
13.75
27.50
28.75
Finder / owner
Puppy
0
0%
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Dog
16
1%
43.75
18.75
18.75
0.00
18.75
Overall
1702
100%
56.52
20.68
9.93
7.58
5.29
Age: The average age of foster caregivers was 36.01 years old.
Resident Dogs: Puppy caregivers were more likely to have resident dogs (57.14%) compared to adult dog caregivers (39.67%).
Shelter Resource Level and Caregiver Relationship:
Low-resource shelters: Relied heavily on caregivers with prior relationships (78.79%).
High-resource shelters: Utilized a larger proportion of new community foster caregivers (60.63%).
Foster-to-Adopt Rates:
Moderately resourced shelters: Had the highest foster-to-adopt rate (43.77%).
High-resource shelters: Had the second-highest foster-to-adopt rate (32.84%).
Repeat Fostering: 25% of foster caregivers fostered more than once during the four-month data collection period.
Dog Outcome
Positive Outcomes
Adoption: Over 83% of fostered dogs and puppies were adopted, primarily from foster homes or with minimal shelter time.
Very low-resource shelters had lower adoption rates (43.01%), compared with shelters at other resource levels (over 80%).
Transfers: 9.45% were transferred to other organizations.
More puppies were transferred out (15.02%) than adult dogs (7.82%).
Very low-resource shelters had higher transfer rates (49.46%), compared to low (6.58%) or moderately (1.67%) resourced shelters.
Return to Owner: A very small percentage (0.27%) were returned to their original owners.
Remained in Care: In a foster home (4.15%) or at the shelter (1.22%).
Negative Outcomes
Less than 2% had negative outcomes:
Lost in Care: 0.34%
Died in Care: 0.20%
Euthanized: 1.02% (0.54% for behavioral, 0.48% for medical) – No puppies were euthanized for behavior.
Length of Stay
Overall: Dogs and puppies spent an average of 43.35 days in the care of the organization (shelter + foster).
Foster Care:
Average: 19.52 days
Range: 0 to 176 days
Age Correlation: Age had a positive correlation with adult dog length of stay.
Foster-to-Adopt: Dogs with potential adopters stayed for 16.18 days (vs. 20.93 days for other cases)
15.74 days if the person adopted (vs. 17.37 days if the person did not adopt)
Foster Caregiver Adoptions:
Adult Dogs: Length of stay of 28.58 days if adopted (vs. 19.61 days if no adoption).
Puppies: Length of stay of 41.61 days if adopted (vs. 20.77 days if no adoption).
Only 7% of puppy foster experiences resulted in caregiver adoption.
Factors Affecting Length of Stay
Timing of spay-neuter surgery
Fostering type
n
Average length of stay
Before intake to the shelter
Puppy
1
38
Dog
443
43.59
At the shelter
Puppy
99
37.36
Dog
301
48.86
In foster care
Puppy
10
57.7
Dog
62
90.66
During a foster-to-adopt
Puppy
36
56.08
Dog
68
57.4
After leaving the shelter
Puppy
166
25.67
Dog
184
60.04
Home Meetings: Shelters allowing potential adopters to meet fosters at home resulted in shorter foster stays (13.73 days), compared to those that did not (21.95 days).
Direct Pick-up: Shelters allowing direct pick-up from foster homes also led to shorter stays (15.86 days), compared to those that did not (20.83 days).
Caregiver’s relationship with the shelter
Adopted n
Did not adopt n
Adopted (%)
No prior relationship
New community member
195
484
28.72
Prior relationship
Shelter volunteer
12
70
14.63
Returning community member
18
194
8.49
Returning foster caregiver
31
558
5.26
Staff
8
116
6.45
Potential adopter (foster-to-adopt)
634
235
72.96
New Caregivers without Dogs: More likely to adopt their fostered dog (77.39% of cases, versus 22.61% for those with dogs).
Prior Relationship Caregivers: Adoption rates varied depending on the number of resident dogs. Those without dogs adopted most often (46.15%) as compared to those with one (30.65%), two (14.52%), or three or more dogs (9.68%).
Dogs with Behavioral Needs
Behavioral Needs: Approximately 20% of foster dogs required behavioral management.
Virtually no puppies (0.62%) required behavioral management.
Bites: Bite incidents were relatively rare (1.1%) and evenly distributed between dog-to-dog and dog-to-human bites.
Dogs without known behavioral concerns were more likely to bite
Returns: 17% of behaviorally managed foster dogs were returned by caregivers. (Dogs without behavioural issues: 5.3%)
Dogs with Medical Needs
Medical Needs: A significant portion of foster dogs required medical management (32.90% for dogs, 21.67% for puppies).
Medical Returns: 4.53% of medically managed foster dogs were returned due to medical issues. (Dogs without medical issues: 1.4%)
Reason foster care ended
Puppy
Adult Dog
Adoption
39.62
62.43
Behavioral
1.08
9.02
Medical
3.23
2.1
Caregiver-related
11.33
10.15
Scheduled return by the shelter
44.74
16.3
Foster Utilization Ratio (FUR)
Factors Influencing FUR:
2019 Length of Stay for dogs 6 months and older: for each day that a shelter’s 2019 length of stay was shorter, their FUR increased by slightly more than one-third of a point.
Shelter Type: Public municipal agencies had 30 points lower FURs compared to private non-profits.
Public Municipal Agencies:
Had the lowest FUR (M = 14.52).
Experienced a dramatic increase in FUR during the pandemic (270% increase from March 2020).
Private Non-Profit Shelters:
Higher FURs compared to public municipal agencies.
High FUR during the pandemic: April (M = 48.86) and May (M = 47.48).
Pandemic Impact:
Overall increase in foster utilization in April 2020 (43% of dogs in foster care), an increase of over 30% compared to before the pandemic.
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