Читать книгу Animal Behavior for Shelter Veterinarians and Staff - Группа авторов - Страница 180

If rehoming a pet is unavoidable, direct owner‐to‐owner rehoming services can prevent relinquishment and the need for sheltering. In one study exploring the rehoming of cats and dogs, 37% of respondents who had rehomed a pet within the last five years had given their pet to a friend or family member as compared to 36% who rehomed by taking their pet to a shelter (Weiss et al. 2015). Eleven percent of respondents rehomed their pet directly to a person not previously known. These findings suggest that owners may be willing, and even prefer, to directly rehome their pets, thus avoiding relinquishment to a shelter altogether.

The shelter’s role in facilitating direct rehoming can include posting photos and information about available pets on an organization’s website, offering tips for successful rehoming, or referring clients to credible organizations that focus on direct owner‐to‐owner rehoming. Shelters typically do not process directly rehomed animals as admissions or placements; thus, appropriate disclosure is necessary to ensure that adopters are aware that the shelter’s normal evaluation processes have not taken place. However, direct rehoming allows the new adopter to receive information about the pet right from the previous owner. This information is potentially even more valuable than information learned about an animal’s behavior in the unfamiliar and stressful environment of the shelter.

A simplified process, with direct communication between a previous and future owner, is just one benefit of rehoming services. Additionally, the animal’s welfare is enhanced by avoiding relinquishment to the shelter and, ideally, entering a well‐counseled and well‐prepared home. The organization avoids a shelter admission through a system that requires minimal resources to establish.

Of course, direct home‐to‐home transfer of ownership is not ideal for every circumstance. In a survey of sheltering organizations, while 55% of organizations offered rehoming advice and resources, only 36% of those organizations considered them highly used (Russo et al. 2021). However, given the low resource investment and potential benefits, direct rehoming services are still a valuable safety net program for appropriate scenarios.