Owner-Related Reasons Matter more than Behavioural Problems—A Study of Why Owners Relinquished Dogs and Cats to a Danish Animal Shelter from 1996 to 2017
Open accessAbstract
Every year, dogs and cats are relinquished to animal shelters by their owners in large numbers. Reasons for relinquishment of dogs and cats to a large Danish shelter from 1996 to 2017 were obtained and characterised. The reasons were available for 86% of the owner-relinquished animals, including 3204 dog relinquishments (90%) and 2755 cat relinquishments (82%). They were allocated to 59 categories, which were further merged into four owner-related and three animal-related reasons. The most commonly reported of these seven reasons for relinquishment of dogs were owner health (29%), animal behavioural problems (23%), housing issues (21%) and lack of time (14%). For cats, the figures were: owner health (32%), housing issues (26%), and animal behavioural problems (25%). No systematic changes in these patterns were found over time. The number of relinquished cats was roughly stable, whereas the number of relinquished dogs decreased on average by 3% per annum. Owner issues were the primary reason for relinquishment in both species, but nearly one-quarter of the animals were relinquished as a result of behavioural problems. As the latter are often connected with the owner in some way, the results emphasise the importance of a focus on owners when addressing pet relinquishment challenges.
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Jensen et al. (50) found that behavioral problems were the most cited reason for relinquishment of dogs but were less important in cat relinquishment.
“For example, Jensen et al. (50) assessed longitudinal data from one Danish shelter and found that behavioral problems were the most cited reason for relinquishment of dogs but were less important in cat relinquishment.”
From Companion animal adoption and relinquishment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Peri-pandemic pets at greatest risk of relinquishment (2022) · cites this paper as Jensen et al. (50)
The Discussion (§4.1) says behavioural problems were the second most frequently given reason for dog relinquishment (23%), after owner health (29%), not the most cited reason. They ranked third for cats, though their reported frequency was slightly higher for cats (25%) than for dogs (23%). (LLM, conf=0.90)
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredJensen et al. (50) highlight the need to distinguish between real and perceived problems.
“Jensen et al. (50) highlight the need to distinguish between real and perceived problems.”
From Companion animal adoption and relinquishment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Peri-pandemic pets at greatest risk of relinquishment (2022) · cites this paper as Jensen et al. (50)
The Introduction says it is important to determine whether relinquishment stems from real or perceived animal-related problems or from problems in owners’ lives. It distinguishes animal-related from owner-related reasons, but does not explicitly call for distinguishing real problems from perceived ones. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredJensen et al. (50) highlight the importance of distinguishing between owner-related and pet-related reasons for relinquishment as they may require varying solutions.
“Jensen et al. (50) highlight the importance of distinguishing between owner-related and pet-related reasons for relinquishment as they may require varying solutions.”
From Companion animal adoption and relinquishment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Peri-pandemic pets at greatest risk of relinquishment (2022) · cites this paper as Jensen et al. (50)
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Cites
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Carroll, G. A., Torjussen, A., & Reeve, C. (2022) · Frontiers in Veterinary Science · doi:10.3389/fvets.2022.1017954 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
- Authors
- Jensen, J. B. H., Sandøe, P., & Nielsen, S. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Nielsen, Søren Saxmose
- Venue
- Animals
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2020-06-19
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1064
- ISSN
- 2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7341242
- OpenAlex
- W3036432965
- Cited by
- 91
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 6.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- WBI Studies Repository (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Shipmerchant Per Henriksen, R. and his Wife’s Fund (NA)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Law › Animal Law and Welfare
- Keywords
- pet relinquishment, animal shelters, dogs, cats, housing problems, time constraints, pet overpopulation
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