Cat returns to shelters increased 16% in November

Owner returns of cats to animal shelters in November increased 16% year over year, while adoption prices for cats over 1 year of age decreased by 11%, according to the PetPoint November Report. The two primary reasons for the spike in returns were owners moving and unanticipated allergic reactions.
Conversely, surrenders of cats to shelters in November decreased by 5% year over year and adoptions increased 3%. The definition of a surrender is when an owner relinquishes ownership of their pet to an animal shelter, while a return is when a pet previously adopted from an animal shelter is returned.
The November report aggregates data from nearly 873 animal welfare organizations and data on 119,266 intakes and 122,094 outcomes for dogs and cats which entered or left animal welfare organizations during the month. The aggregated data used to develop the report comes via PetPoint the most widely used animal management application in animal welfare.
For the November report, which used data from only those organizations that were using PetPoint in November 2009 and November 2010, the following can be summarized:
- Returns of cats increased by 16%.
- Adoption prices declined 11% for cats older than one year, but increased by 2% for dogs older than one year.
- Adoption prices increased for cats and dogs less than one year by 4% and 5% respectively.
- Owner surrender of cats and dogs decreased by 5%.
- Adoptions of cats increased by 3%, while adoptions of dogs remained flat for November.
- Euthanasia of cats and dogs declined by 3% and 9%, respectively.
- Seizures of cats increased by 42%; however, this was caused by events at 4 of the larger animal welfare organizations using PetPoint.
Interested organizations can subscribe to receive more detailed reports including regional and state data for a monthly fee. The full report can be seen by visiting http://www.petpoint.com/petpoint-report-12- 20-2010.asp. PetPoint reports are issued on the third Monday of each month.