Factors Associated with the Relinquishment of Domestic Canines to Animal Shelters

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Factors Associated with the Relinquishment of
Domestic Canines to Animal Shelters

• Dissertation Hearing Defense
• by
• Barry Adkins

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Introduction to the Problem

• Pet Overpopulation
• HSUS est. 5 million
• People Problem
• Euthanasia
• Most Effective Solution
• Importance of Canine Well-Being
• Domestication
• Psychological Effect
• Reducing Relinquishment

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Purposes of the Study

• Descriptive To Describe characteristics of South
  Florida pet owners who relinquish pets to animal
  shelters.

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Purposes of the Study

• Exploratory (Comparative) To explore
  differences in preemptive relinquishing actions
  according to South Florida pet owner
  characteristics

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Purposes of the Study

• Explanatory (Correlation) To explain
  relationship among pet owner characteristics and
  preemptive relinquishing actions, length of time
  to relinquish pets, and history of pet
  relinquishment.

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Definition of Terms

Pet Maintenance Behavior
Animal Shelters
Pet Owners Basic Canine Knowledge
Intake
Canine Behavior Problems
Demographic Characteristics of the Relinquisher
Domestic Canine
Canine Temperament and Other Characteristics
History of Pet Relinquishment
Pet Relinquishment By Caregiver
Expectations of Pet Owners

• Length of
• Time
• to
• Relinquish
• a Pet

Relinquishment Actions
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Justification

• Researchable
• Concepts of framework are measurable and
  hypotheses can be measured and tested
• Feasible
• Subjects are available to study
• Significance
• Moral obligation
• Cost
• Contribution to knowledge Preemptive
  relinquishing actions

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Review of Literature

• Historical Overview of Animal Services Industry
• Overpopulation of Pets
• Spay and Neutering
• Reasons Canine are Relinquished
• Key factors for Relinquishment
• Behavioral Reasons Associated With Relinquishment
• Key Concepts
• Rational Expectations
• Planned Behavior

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Theoretical Framework

• Muths (1961) Theory of Rational Expectations
• Expectations What People Expect
• Azjens (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior
• Attitude
• Subjective Norms
• Perceive Behavior Control
• Self-Identify Theory by Fekadu and Kraft (2001),
• Predict intentions from past behavior
• Pet Owner relinquishment history
• DiGiacomo et al. (1998) Relinquishers
  perspective
• Five-level Framework proposed by Fournier and
  Geller (2004)

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Theoretical Framework
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Research Design

• Non-experimental, mixed-method, predominantly a
  quantitative
• Explanatory and Predictive (Correlation)
• Exploratory (Causal comparative)
• Self-Report Survey

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Population and Sample

• Target Population
• Canine Owners relinquishing pets in the United
  States.
• Accessible Population
• Canine Owners residing in the Tri-County area
• Two Step
• Non-probability purposive sampling plan
• Non-Probability, Quota Sampling Plan
• Final Data Producing Sample
• Pet Owner completed surveys Shelter/Mail
• English 444 and Spanish 156

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Sample Size

• Sample size 600
• 14 response rate
• Number of days 69

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Data Collection Procedures

• Permissions to use scales
• Permission to conduct study at Tri County Animal
  Shelters
• Application to IRB. Requested to waive
  documentation of consent signature
• After IRBs review and permission -proceeded with
  the translations
• Train Data Collectors at each Animal Shelter on
  Collection Procedures
• Distributed Surveys to each Shelter, Numbered to
  Identify Shelter

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Data Collection Procedures

• Collected Surveys Weekly, Continued Survey until
  Quota was Reached
• IRB Termination Form 8
• Data Analyzed using SPSS
• Data Stored One Year

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Instrumentation
 Part  Construct Number of Items Reliability Validity
 1 Relinquisher Characteristics  9  YES  YES
 2 Pet Owner Basic Canine Knowledge  9  Unknown Unknown
 3 Pet Maintenance Behavior  7 Unknown Unknown
 4 Expectations of Pet Owners  8 Unknown Unknown
 5 Canine Temperament Scale 9 Unknown Unknown
 6 Canine Behavior Problems 9 Unknown Unknown
 7 Preemptive Relinquishing Actions 6  New New
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Methods of Data Analysis

• Psychometric Analyses 
• Reliability Analysis
• Coefficient Alphas
• Construct Validity
• Exploratory Factor Analysis
• Convergent and Divergent Validity
• Pearson r

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Hypotheses Testing

• Explanatory (Correlation) Research Design--gt
• Multiple Regression Analysis Major Steps
• STEP 1 Identify Possible Explanatory Variables
  for Regression Model
• Find variables that correlated with the dependent
  variable If
• a. Categorical Variables (Non-Linear
  Relationship)
• i.  Eta
• ii. Example Time and Ethnicity
• iii. If Eta shows a trend (plt.10) or
  significance
• (plt.05), categorical variable
  converted to
• dummy variable

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• Continued Find correlated variables with the
  dependent variable
• b. Continuous Variables (Linear Relationship)
• i. Pearson r Correlation
• ii. Example Time and Canine Temperament Scale
  
• iii. Pearson r Correlation of Dummy variable
  and
• dependent (Linear Relationship)
  

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• STEP 2   Stepwise (forward) Multiple
• Regression Analyses and Discriminant
• Regression Analyses (H2b)
• a. Enter Significant or Trend Variables
• (r, plt.10)  strongest to weakest
• b. Multicollinearity Examined VIF and
• Tolerance (no variables removed)
• c. Significant Models F and p
• d. Select Best Explanatory Model
•  Examine R2 and Adjusted R2

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Research Question 1

• Descriptive

demographic characteristics, basic canine
knowledge, pet maintenance behaviors, and the
expectations of pet owners
What are South Florida

• Pet Owners who
• are relinquishing
• their pets?

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Research Question 2

• Descriptive

canine temperaments and other characteristics,
and canine behavior problems
What are South Florida

• Pet Owners who
• are relinquishing
• their pets?

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Research Question 3

• Descriptive

pet relinquishing in pet owners, the length of
time to relinquish a pet, and preemptive
relinquishing actions
What is History

• South Florida
• Pet Owners?

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Research Question 4

• Qualitative

South Florida pet owners describe, as being taken
What Actions Do
from the time of their initial thought of
relinquishing their pet to the day of surrender?
No pet owners indicated that they had taken
additional re-homing actions.
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Research Question 5

• Comparative
• Independent t-tests
• Chi-square tests

demographic characteristics, basic canine
knowledge, pet maintenance behaviors, and the
expectations of pet owners canine temperaments
and other characteristics, and canine behavior
problems pet relinquishing in pet owners, the
length of time to relinquish a pet, and
preemptive relinquishing actions
Are there differences in south Florida pet
owner

• according to pet owners that
• relinquish their pets for the
• first time versus those who
• have a history of
• relinquishing pets?

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Results
Results Interpretations
Psychometric Analyses
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Instrumentation
 Part  Construct Number of Items Number of Items EFA Reliability Validity (EFA Loadings)
 1 Relinquisher Characteristics  9 N/A  YES  YES
 2 Pet Owner Basic Canine Knowledge  9 9  NO a .143  NO
 3 Pet Maintenance Behavior  7 6  YES a .728 YES  .653 - .980
   Pet Care Subscale   3  YES a .775 YES .653 - .900 
   Pet Housing Subscale   2   YES a .855 YES .921 - .921 
   Pet Obedience Subscale   1   YES a N/A YES .980
 4 Expectations of Pet Owners  8 6   YES a .815 YES .565 - .938 
  Pet Benefits Expectations Subscale   3  YES a .762 YES .565 - .857 
  Pet Problem Expectations Subscale   3   YES a .919 YES   .936 - .938
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Instrumentation(Continue)
 Part  Construct Number of Items Number of Items EFA Reliability Validity (EFA Loadings)
5 Canine Temperament Scale 9 5 YES a .710 YES .354 - .874
6 Canine Behavior Problems 9 7 YES a .669 YES .592 - .946
Aggressive Behavior subscale 3 YES a .891 YES .859 - .946
Annoying Behavior subscale 4 YES a .628 YES .592 - .770
7 Preemptory Relinquishing Actions 6 3 YES a .603 YES .017 - .952
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Results
Research Questions and Hypotheses
Results Interpretations
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Research Question 1 Demographic Characteristics
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Research Question 1 Demographic Characteristics
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Research Question 1 Demographic Characteristics
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Research Question 1 Demographic Characteristics
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Research Question 1 Demographic Characteristics
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Research Question 1 Demographic Characteristics
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Research Question 1 Socio-Demographics
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Research Question 1 Pet Owner Basic Canine
Knowledge Characteristics of the Sample

• 8 items, 5-point Likert Scale
• Actual scores ranged from a low of 37.5 to a
  high of 100.
• The mean score for the sample was 75.15 with a
  standard deviation
• of 14.68
• Scale was not used in comparative or regression
  analysis to answer
• research questions and to test hypotheses

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Research Question 1 Pet Maintenance Behavior
Characteristics of the Sample

• 6 items, 5-point Likert Scale
• Three subscales
• Pet Care Subscale (3-15) (M9) Register,
  vaccinate and exam
• Pet Housing Subscale (2-10) (M4.9) Outside
• Pet Obedience Subscale. (1-5) (M1.3) No Training
• Actual total scores (6-30) (6-28) (M15.20)
  Average PMB
• Scale was used in comparative and regression
  analysis to answer research questions and to test
  hypotheses

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Research Question 1Expectations of Pet Owners
Characteristics of the Sample

• 6 items, 5-point Likert Scale
• Two subscales
• Pet Benefits Expectations Subscale (3-15)
  (M8.12) Fewer Benefits
• Pet Problem Expectations Subscale (3-15) (M8.92)
  More Daily Problems
• Actual total scores (6-30) (6-28) (M17.53)
  Average EPO
• Scale was used in comparative and regression
  analysis to answer research questions and to test
  hypotheses

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Research Question 2 Demographic Characteristics
Canine Temperament Scale

• 5 items, 5-point Likert Scale
• unidimensional
• Actual total scores (5-25) (5-22) (M14.54)
  Slightly Composed
• Scale was used in comparative and regression
  analysis to answer research questions and to test
  hypotheses

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Research Question 2 Canine Characteristics
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Research Question 2 Canine Characteristics
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Research Question 2 Canine Characteristics
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Research Question 2 Canine Characteristics
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Research Question 2 Canine Characteristics
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Research Question 2 Canine Behavior Scale

• 7 items, 5-point Likert Scale
• Two subscales
• Aggressive Behavior Subscale (3-15) (M5.17)
  Fewer aggression related problems
• Annoying Behavior Subscale (4-20) (M11.60)
  Slightly above average annoying behavior
• Actual total scores (7-35) (7-29) (M16.75)
  Average Canine Behavior
• Scale was used in comparative or regression
  analysis to answer research questions and to test
  hypotheses

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Research Question 3 Length of time to Relinquish
a Pet
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Research Question 4Preemptive Relinquishing
Actions
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Research Question 5History of Relinquishing
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Research Question 5
t-Test
p .004
p .00
p .07
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Research Question 5
t-Test
p .004
p .07
p .00
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Research Question 5

• Chi Square
• Significant difference according to
• race (?2 8.939, p .030)
  
• marital status (?2 43.943, p .000)
• Findings suggests that
• First time relinquishes had significantly fewer
  black and more white pet owners,
• More were single, compared to multiple pet
  relinquishes.

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Relinquishing Actions Scale
Frequency Valid Percentage
3 1.4
8 3.7
11 5.2
0 0
212 100
2 .94

• Listed my dog with a re-homing service
• Placed a sign in a veterinarians office
• Placed a sign in a local pet store or store
• Listed the pet with a pet shelter network
• Talked to friends, relatives, neighbors and co
  workers

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Hypotheses 1
Pet Owner Demographic Characteristics Basic
Canine Knowledge Pet Maintenance Behavior Pet
Owner Expectations
Canine Canine Temperament Canine Behavior
Problems
Length of Time to Relinquish a Pet H1
PreemptiveRelinquishing Actions H3
Relinquish- ment History H2
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Hypotheses 2a
Pet Owner Demographic Characteristics Basic
Canine Knowledge Pet Maintenance Behavior Pet
Owner Expectations
Canine Canine Temperament Canine Behavior
Problems
Length of Time to Relinquish a Pet H1
PreemptiveRelinquishing Actions H3
Relinquish- ment History H2a
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Hypotheses 2b
Pet Owner Demographic Characteristics Basic
Canine Knowledge Pet Maintenance Behavior Pet
Owner Expectations
Canine Canine Temperament Canine Behavior
Problems
Length of Time to Relinquish a Pet H1
PreemptiveRelinquishing Actions H3
Relinquish- ment History H2b
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Hypotheses 3
Pet Owner Demographic Characteristics Basic
Canine Knowledge Pet Maintenance Behavior Pet
Owner Expectations
Canine Canine Temperament Canine Behavior
Problems
Length of Time to Relinquish a Pet H1
PreemptiveRelinquishing Actions H3
Relinquish- ment History H2
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RESULT- RESEARCH HYPOTHESES 1 2a
Hypothesis 1 Partially Supported
Explanatory Variables Annoying Behavior -
History of Relinquishment
Time Adjusted R²- R² 6.1 - 7.0
Hypothesis 2a Partially Supported
Explanatory Variables Canine Group (Toy) Time
Pet Owner Age Dog Gender Female
History of Relinquishment Adjusted R²- R² 8.7
- 11.0
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RESULT- RESEARCH HYPOTHESES 2b 3
Hypothesis 1 Partially Supported
Predictor Variables Number of Litters - Race
Canine Temperament Scale - Pet Problem
Expectation Subscale Owner Age
First-Time Multiple
Hypothesis 3 Partially Supported
Explanatory Variables Canine Group (Toy) Pet
Owner Gender (Male Time Dog Gender Male -
Preemptive Relinquishing Actions Adjusted R²- R²
5.8 - 7.2
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Discussion

• Interpretations
• Practical Implications
• Conclusions
• Limitations
• Recommendations for Future Study

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Interpretations
Variables Literature Consistent
Demographic Characteristics Miller et al. (1996) Salman et al. (1998) Partial
Pet Owner Basic Canine Knowledge Scarlett et al. (1996) Yes
Pet Maintenance Behavior Miller et al. (1996) No
Expectations of Pet Owners Miller et al. (1996) Yes
Canine Characteristics and Temperament Miller et al. (1996) New et al. (2000) Yes
Canine Behavior Salman et al. (1998) New et al. (2000) Partial
Preemptive Relinquishing Actions Digiacomo et al. (1998) Partial
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Practical Implications

• Hyperactivity and Annoying
• Education Reasonable Expectations
• Obedience Training Canines
• Improve human animal bond
• High Expectations
• Moving
• Continue - Spay Neutering programs
• Mandatory
• Free
• Utilize Technology - Preemptive Actions

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Conclusion

• Multiple Relinquishers more knowledge, older,
  and lower occupational level
• First-time Relinquishers more tolerant, house
  dogs inside, and have lower expectations
• More Canines Relinquished Outside Dogs
• Owners Who Relinquish Higher Expectations
• Vast Majority Canines Relinquished
• Not Spayed or Neutered
• Mixed Breed
• Moving Major cause why pet relinquished
• Pet Owners - No preemptive actions

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Limitations

• A non-experimental design
• Purposively selected sample (shelters) as oppose
  to Random selection
• Construct validity and reliability of the Pet
  Owner Basic Canine Knowledge Scale not
  established
• Largest R2 was 11 - 90 error
• Surveys none ideal situation

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Recommendations for Future Study

• Examine additional explanatory variables to pet
  relinquishment reduce measurement error in
  regression (explanatory) models.
• The needed to design a reliable and valid measure
  of pet owner knowledge.
• Replicate study in different regions of the
  country
• Strengthen and validate the findings
• Improve the psychometric qualities of the survey
  instrument
• Establish concurrent and construct validity of
  the Canine Owner Relinquishment Survey scale
• Expanded checklist to include relinquishing a pet
  to a no kill shelter as a preemptive
  relinquishing action.

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Recommendations for Future Study (Continue)

• Better Understanding of association of canine
  group, dog gender, time and history with
  preemptive relinquishment actions.
• Significant predictor variables must be studied
  closer to understand how these variables might
  reduce pet relinquishment.
• Longitudinal studies are recommended to gain a
  better understanding of the long term affects of
  obedience training on pet relinquishment to
  evaluate progress and performance of training on
  canine behavior.

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Factors Associated with the Relinquishment of
Domestic Canines to Animal Shelters

• Thank You