Are free adoptions a good idea?
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
By: Wendy Welch

Hint: You may be surprised.

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

When it comes to waiving fees on pet adoptions, everyone has questions and opinions. Isn't it dangerous for the animal to give it away free? How will people who don't pay an adoption fee afford care for the animal? Doesn't this devalue the animal? Don't free adoption events just attract people who'd just "flip" the pet on Craigslist-- or worse?

Of course, these are all great questions. Fortunately, there is excellent research that helps answer them! Here's some:

• After studying people who'd adopted their pet for free, researchers at Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida found nearly all of them reported a strong or very strong attachment to the pet, nearly all lived indoors, almost half slept on the family bed, and over 75% had been to a veterinarian. They concluded: "Free adoption promotions may increase adoptions without compromising quality of life."

• Dr. Emily Weiss and Shannon Gramann compared people who adopted cats for free and those who paid a fee. Data indicated there were no significant differences between those who paid a fee and those who didn't; attachment didn't decrease when the cat was free, nor did the adopters' valuation of the cats. They concluded: Free adult cat promotions "create an opportunity to positively affect cats in animal shelters by finding more homes...[and] affect cat overpopulation by putting more altered cats into the community."

And it makes sense with what we know about pet ownership, too, as so many people got their pet "free"; over 40% of owners got their pet from a family member or picked up a stray.

Of course, adoption fees are important to shelters, offsetting a fraction of the cost for feeding, boarding, sterilizing, microchipping, vaccinating, supplying enrichment and veterinary care. But when shelters can afford it -- such as when a sponsor like Bissell Pet Foundation picks up the adoption fees for a day, as they did in the recent Empty the Shelters Event -- free adoptions can save lives.

This year, 64 animals at HSHV found homes on Empty the Shelters day. A month later, just two had been returned (fewer than 3%, which is less than the national average of 10%), and dozens have reported how happy they are with their new best friends (e.g., see Jasper's story here.). Furthermore, Bissell Pet Foundation reports that a large percentage of people who adopt at the free Empty the Shelters events have never been to an animal shelter; free adoption events can pull in people who don't know about the possibility of rescuing a pet from a shelter. And it's important to note: HSHV's adoption process and policies remain the same, no matter what the adoption fee is. People are coached on the costs and responsibilities of pet parenting.

Progressive animal welfare programs elicit two main responses: "Neat! Let's go for it!" and "This can't be right, as it doesn't fit with what I believe." Hopefully, after receiving the facts, the latter can turn into the former-- especially when it means saving lives.