Analysis of Dog Adoption Success and Failure Using Surveys With Vignettes

Hill, Stephen E.; Murphy, Nancy C

doi:10.1080/10888705.2015.1126522

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In a survey of shelter workers, Ellis et al (2017) found that people relinquish their animals due to changes in lifestyle (new house, new partner), lack of planning for animal’s basic needs and aggression towards people in dogs, often due to poor training and socialization [ 53 ]. Using vignettes Hill and Murphy found that the two characteristics most likely to impact dog adoption success were behavior and size [ 54 ]. Dogs with at least some obedience training were more likely to be adopted successfully [ 54 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring Social Desirability Bias in Perceptions of Dog Adoption: All’s Well that Ends Well? Or Does the Method of Adoption Matter?

Bir

Widmar

Croney

2018

Animals

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Simple SummaryDog adoption is often cited as an ethical and popular method of acquisition but interpretation of the term ‘adoption’ may vary. In a nationally representative survey of the U.S., 767 respondents were asked questions regarding their opinions of dog acquisition including adoption. Within the sample, 45% had a dog; of those, 40% had adopted a dog and 47% visited a veterinarian once a year. Respondents’ preferences for the most ethical method of dog adoption were elicited using a survey instrument. Our results indicate that respondents had the largest preference share for adoption from a municipal animal shelter’ (56%) and the smallest preference share for adoption from a pet store (3%). Dog acquisition was further evaluated by creating an index of social desirability bias comparing how important respondents believed certain dog characteristics were and how important respondents believed others would rate/rank the same dog characteristics. The highest incidences of social desirability bias occurred for the dog characteristics of appearance and breed.AbstractDogs are a popular companion animal in the United States; however, dog acquisition is often a contentious subject. Adoption is often cited as an ethical and popular method of acquisition but interpretation of the term ‘adoption’ may vary. In a nationally representative survey of the U.S., 767 respondents were asked questions regarding their opinions of dog acquisition and adoption. Within the sample, 45% had a dog; of those, 40% had adopted a dog, and 47% visited a veterinarian once a year. A best-worst choice experiment, where respondents were asked to choose the most ethical and least ethical method of acquiring a dog from a statistically determined set of choices, was used to elicit respondents’ preferences for the most ethical method of dog adoption. A random parameters logit and a latent class model were used to estimate relative rankings of dog adoption methods. In the random parameters logit model, the largest preference share was for adoption from a municipal animal shelter (56%) and the smallest preference share was for adoption from a pet store (3%). Dog acquisition was further evaluated by creating an index of social desirability bias using how important respondents believed certain dog characteristics were compared to how important respondents believed others would rate/rank the same dog characteristics. The highest incidences of social desirability bias occurred for the dog characteristics of appearance and breed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using vignettes Hill and Murphy found that the two characteristics most likely to impact dog adoption success were behavior and size [ 54 ]. Dogs with at least some obedience training were more likely to be adopted successfully [ 54 ]. Younger respondents had a higher prevalence of SDB for physical health than older respondents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Social Desirability Bias in Perceptions of Dog Adoption: All’s Well that Ends Well? Or Does the Method of Adoption Matter?

Bir

Widmar

Croney

2018

Animals

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“…For example, 77% of US mothers and 89% of Canadian mothers start breastfeeding, but only 22% and 26% are still doing so after six months, respectively (CDC 2016;Gionet 2013). Ninety three percent of the participants in massive open online courses do not complete the course (Parr 2013), and 15% to 20% of all dog adoptions are unsuccessful (Hill and Murphy 2016). Similarly, only 30% of patients stick to a new lifestyle regime after a medical challenge (e.g., heart attack), only 19% adhere to exercise recommendations, and only 35% follow physical therapy programs (Martin et al 2005).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Best Laid Plans: Why New Parents Fail to Habituate Practices

Thomas

Epp

2019

Journal of Consumer Research

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Consumers regularly fail to habituate newly adopted practices. In contrast to established practices, this often occurs because understanding a practice is different from actually doing it. Our work explores this “messiness of doing” and explains why consumers successfully habituate some newly adopted practices after experiencing obstacles (i.e., misaligned practice elements) but not others. Utilizing a longitudinal approach that follows first-time parents from pregnancy through the first eight months postpartum, we track how parents plan for practices and how those plans unfold. We document a process whereby parents first engage in extensive planning and preparation prior to the birth of their child, during which parents build two realignment capabilities (anticipation and integration). After the baby’s arrival, some practices invariably do not work. Parents respond to these misalignments by following one of five paths—differentiated by the capabilities parents build while planning—that result in practice abandonment, vulnerable habituation, or habituation. Our work highlights the challenges associated with translating a social practice into an enacted practice and the corresponding importance of accumulating realignment capabilities during planning. To facilitate habituation of newly adopted practices, how consumers make plans for these practices may ultimately matter more than what they actually plan to do.

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“…After univariable analysis of each putative risk factor, dog age and bodyweight at adoption were selected for use in subsequent modelling as several studies have identified that age and size (or bodyweight) are associated with relinquishment [ 8 , 11 , 33 , 34 ] and because the point estimates of hazard ratios from univariable analyses indicated strong associations between these variables and readmission.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adoption Can Be a Risky Business: Risk Factors Predictive of Dogs Adopted from RSPCA Queensland Being Returned

Thumpkin

Paterson

Morton³

et al. 2022

Animals

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Not all dog adoptions are successful. This two-year retrospective study used survival (i.e., time-to-event) analyses to investigate readmissions for dogs adopted from RSPCA Queensland shelters between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. A better understanding of temporal patterns and risk factors associated with readmission may help RSPCA Queensland shelters better target and tailor resources to improve retention by adopters. The failure function (the cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted by day of the adoption period) increased rapidly during the first 14 days of the adoption period. Approximately two-thirds of all returns occurred in this period. This readmission rate may have been influenced by the RSPCA Queensland adoption-fee refund policy. The cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted plateaued at just under 15%. Dog size, age, coat colour, breed, and spending time in foster before adoption were factors associated with the risk of readmission. Failure functions for a low and a high-risk adoption example demonstrated the large degree of difference in hazard of readmission between covariate patterns, with estimated percentages of adoptions being returned by 90 days for those examples being 2% and 17%, respectively. Spending time in foster care before adoption appears to be protective against readmission, presumably because it supports a successful transition to the new home environment. Behaviour support and training provided for dogs during foster care may contribute to improve their outcomes. These findings highlight the profile of the higher-risk dogs potentially providing shelters with an opportunity to examine where and how resources could be allocated to maximize outcomes for the overall cohort. Population attributable 90-day failure estimates were calculated for each of bodyweight and age at adoption, coat colour, spending time in foster care before adoption, and breed. This calculation shows the expected reduction in the cumulative percentage of dogs readmitted by day 90 if the hazards of readmission for higher risk categories were reduced to those of a lower risk category. Expected reductions for individual factors ranged from 1.8% to 3.6% with one additional estimate of 6.8%. Risk of readmission could be reduced through increased development of foster capacity and capability, targeted interventions, improved adopter-dog matching processes, and more effective targeting of support for higher risk dogs, such as older or larger dogs. Population impact analyses provide a macro view that could assist shelters in strategically assessing the return on investment for various strategies aiming to improve adoption outcomes and potentially reduce readmissions.

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Analysis of Dog Adoption Success and Failure Using Surveys With Vignettes

Cited by 9 publications

References 20 publications

Exploring Social Desirability Bias in Perceptions of Dog Adoption: All’s Well that Ends Well? Or Does the Method of Adoption Matter?

Exploring Social Desirability Bias in Perceptions of Dog Adoption: All’s Well that Ends Well? Or Does the Method of Adoption Matter?

The Best Laid Plans: Why New Parents Fail to Habituate Practices

Adoption Can Be a Risky Business: Risk Factors Predictive of Dogs Adopted from RSPCA Queensland Being Returned

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