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Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

  • 1.  Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 17 days ago

    Recording available to watch on-demand

    We hope to see you on Monday, 9/11 at 11am PT for our next Community Conversations call for a presentation on, "Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors" by @Lawrence Minnis, Director of Workforce Development at Humane Rescue Alliance!

    A potential adopter walks into your shelter to look at adoptable dogs. They ask the front desk about the adoption process then walk through the dog kennels. Twenty minutes later they leave the kennels, say "Thank you!" to the front desk and leave. This may be a common occurrence at your shelter, but what do you know about the thought process that the potential adopter went through? What were they thinking? And how may your operations impact their decision process?

    Lawrence Minnis has studied shelter visitors and adoption decision-making research and will highlight findings from his research and other studies. Lawrence will also share information about his upcoming research and what we may hope to learn about the adoption decision-making process.

    💸 Maddie's Fund will also be announcing the August grant giveaway winners so be sure to tune in to see if you've won! 💸
    Register here for our Monday Community Conversations Calls: maddies.fund/CommunityConversationsRegistration
    If you are unable to make it live on Monday, this thread will be updated with the recording and resources so you can watch and share whenever you'd like.  After you watch the recording on-demand or attend the call live, be sure to complete this new September entry form to enter to win up to a $5,000 grant: https://www.maddiesfund.org/weekly-community-conversations-sep23-giveaway.htm


    #AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms
    #DataandTechnology

    ------------------------------
    Maddie's Pet Forum Admin
    Maddie's Fund
    ------------------------------



  • 2.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago

    I want to thank everyone for attending and supporting this call!! I look forward to great questions and follow-up discussions on this topic.

    Please, post your questions or comments, and I will be here to engage as much as I can!



    ------------------------------
    Lawrence Minnis
    Director, Workforce Development
    Humane Rescue Alliance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago
      |   view attached
    Thank you to the 187+ people who joined us live for today's Community Conversations call. There was SO much great information shared by our presenter @Lawrence Minnis plus some grant winners were announced for attending these calls and for participating here on Maddie's Pet Forum! Congrats to the two grant winners @Kathy Duncan and @Ky Crawford! To enter to win a grant for the September drawing, be sure to complete this grant giveaway form each time you watch a call live or on-demand: https://www.maddiesfund.org/weekly-community-conversations-sep23-giveaway.htm


    The recording is now available to watch on-demand and Lawrence's presentation slides are attached. Below you'll find a recap of the agenda, resources and chat. Have a great week!

    Agenda
    • Welcome From Hosts
      • @Nadia Oseguera, California Program Manager, UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program
      • Shannon Martin-Roebuck, Executive Director, Bridging Impact

    • Acknowledgment of 9/11: We want to acknowledge the significance of today, September 11th, and take a moment to remember those who perished and thank first responders and service members who were involved in responding to the attack. If there are any loved ones you're thinking about today, we welcome you to share about them in the chat or unmute.
      • "My sister-in-law is a nurse who cared for victims in the aftermath. She is still traumatized. Mary Ellen Routin." - Amy Charles
      • "AS A FORMER MARINE -  I GIVE THANKS TO ALL THAT GAVE THEIR LIVES TO SAVE OTHERS." - Alisa Fraser
      • "I acknowledge all the wonderful law enforcement, military and fire rescue people serving us honorably everyday." - Vincent Medley

    • Question of the Day: What influenced the selection of your pet?
      • "She chose me!" - Alison Gibson
      • "Foster fail cat" - June Thomas
      • "She showed up barefoot & pregnant and gave birth under our bed 24 hours later! 🤣 So.... no choice in the matter whatsoever!" - Amanda Coburn
      • "I asked for who was the longest stay and we feel in love 🙂" - Jenna Riedi
      • "When my wife adopted me she already had our dog." - Bobby Mann
      • "I played amputation nurse and I couldn't let him go" - Alexsey Dobberstine
      • "Mine always chose me." - Penny Leisch
      • "We have been fostering since all of our pets passed, and we finally foster failed with a crazy kitten who bonded tightly with my son." - Dylan Moore
      • "Foster fail dog - he matches my energy every day, no matter what" - Sarah Meyer
      • "My last pet, Buster, I adopted him as a kitten, and he was the only kitten who wasn't sleeping when I went to the shelter. So I picked him up to play with, and fell in love." - Kelly Clardy
      • "Rescue pet who required daily tube feeding and became a foster cat fail." - Beverly Paladinetti
      • "My kids happened to be visiting our shelter and fell in love with a dog (who also loved my kids)!" - Jessie Sullivan
      • "staff suggested her to us" - Nancy McKenney
      • "All from shelters. Our eyes met and it was meant to be." - Elaine Edington
      • "Mine was a black cat looking for food outside on Halloween. Fostered and kept her" - Amanda Gra
      • "Looked like a dog from my childhood then foster fail-keeps :)" - Debbie Loveland
      • "PJ was passed over by two other families already. He also reminded me of my first dog." - Irene Chansawang
      • "She had a cute photo on petfinder and growled at me when we first met" - Maria S
      • "They need to be seniors with special needs. That is where my heart is" - Roxane Fritz
      • "My dogs were all rejected by other people.  They are outsiders like me" - Vincent Medley
      • "She looked into my eyes and I heard her name, "Ursula," in my head." - Nanette McCann
      • "It was supposed to be a fospice, but it's been 5 years..." - Emily Wood
      • "All rescues that needed a home right away." - Carol Shelby
      • "Their personalities - somehow all of my four pets ended up being black and white...we did not plan that! 😂" - Jordan LeVine
      • "A friend was fostering the perfect kittens and I adopted after meeting them." - Sara
      • "I have retired racing greyhounds who picked me. When each came in on a haul from a couple of different farms, I saw them and just knew they were mine!" - Mary Flores
      • "My latest were adopted at our SVO clinic. Two brothers. I lost my old kitty back in Sept. it was time." - Lisa Tate
      • "Foster kittens that adopted us." - Kimberly Moore
      • "I went to adopt a senior with limited life span. The foster family decided to adopt her and my present dog was presented as an option. I went from a terminal senior to a puppy found on the street." - Penny Leisch
      • "Our pet chose us! She was nearly two years old, living in a dirt backyard with generations from her "pack". A shepherd/husky mix who had to fight for her food, because her "owner" threw handsful of food to the 2 dozen dogs living there. All the other dogs barked insanely at the fence. Cree sat quietly staring at us, as if to say, "Get me out of here!" And we did!" - Amy Charles

    • National Updates
    • Today's Presentation (recording starts at 10:10) - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors with Guest Speaker, Lawrence Minnis, Director of Workforce Development, Humane Rescue Alliance
      • Related Links:
      • Published Research:
      • Reference Citations
        • Wells, D. L., & Hepper, P. G. (2001). The behavior of visitors towards dogs housed in an animal rescue shelter. Anthrozoös, 14(1), 12–18.
        • Protopopova, A., & Gunter, L. M. (2017). Adoption and relinquishment interventions at the animal shelter: A review. Animal Welfare, 26(1), 35–48.
        • O'Connor, R., Coe, J. B., Niel, L., & Jones-Bitton, A. (2017). Exploratory study of adopters' concerns prior to acquiring dogs or cats from animal shelters. Society & Animals, 25(4), 362–383.
        • Trimmer, P. C., Houston, A. I., Marshall, J. A., Mendl, M. T., Paul, E. S., & McNamara, J. M. (2011). Decision-making under uncertainty: Biases and Bayesians. Animal Cognition, 14, 465-476.
        • Southland, A., Dowling-Guyer, S., & McCobb, E. (2019). Effect of visitor perspective on adoption decisions at one animal shelter. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 22(1), 1–12.

    • Highlights From The Chat
      • "Great slides - I am instantly sharing on my Conncectteam app with my staff as this is a constant conversation on how to help these dogs." - Michelle Russillo
      • "Love this comparison. I totally feel like an animal realtor! 🤣" - Amanda Gra
      • "There's a fine line between providing education and support versus pushing to get the animal out at any cost. I definitely felt that way at one shelter I visited." - Penny Leisch
      • "How about more like a personal shopper or personal stylist "model"?" - Nancy McKenney
      • "We need someone to design a game type system for a kiosk where incoming adopters put in things about their lifestyle and the result is suggestions for various breeds that are best suited. No pressure from people, just a fun game with a few logical ideas to help make a good match." - Penny Leisch
        • "One issue is that many shelters don't have a variety of breeds. My local shelter is 99% pit bull types!" - Maria S
        • "Penny, the ASPCA use to have something like that with Meet your Match -- sort of like a quiz to match adopters to animals up for adoption." - Nancy McKenney
      • "I love the idea but we don't have the staff to do the pre-conversations. I think a Social worker model should be a key employee for some many reasons but we have to afford that role. I think I have thought of 15 plus things they could be doing that would be a better shelter model all around." - Michelle Russillo
      • "Tjis would lessen the barriers to adoption, reunification, and diversion. I know this is my next grant request. 🙂 I want to try it for 6 months" - Michelle Russillo
      • "We found it difficult to capture this info. We had a sign in sheet that asked for all of this info. Adopters were reluctant to give the info and usually only write their first name, so we stopped. Do you have recommendations on how better capture it?" - Carrie Ridgway
        • "Maybe pets that are most suited temperament and size wise for their lifestyle?" - Dina Smith
        • "I second Dina! Generally lots of variety in behavior in bully types. If people feel they have a customized match that might help!" - JoAnna Platzer
        • "You could have a website to do that and offer a QR code visitors to scan, to walk through that process. Everyone has smart phones now" - June Thomas
          • "@June Thomas A lot of people do, but many people still don't have a smartphone. It varies a lot by demographic" - Maria S
        • "maybe ask volunteers (if in a greeter role) to assist with tracking?" - Nancy McKenney
        • "Did anyone explain why this info is needed? For example, there are still places with breed laws that may not accept a bully breed or insurance limitations for homeowners. Many people don't realize they need to know those things. We are helping prevent a lot of heartbreak and return if we help them eliminate those issues." - Penny Leisch
      • "This statistic is so important to keep in mind. We're not "failing" if 100% of shelter visitors don't adopt if only 10-25% are intending to adopt during that specific visit. Super helpful to really consider the intent of visitors" - Kim Domerofski
        • "Yes! I used to go to my local shelter just to browse. The only time I went intending to adopt was if I'd seen a specific pet on the website I wanted to adopt" - Maria S
      • "If there was a social worker model there probably a better name for the role then the kennel staff could learn the best ways to engage and problem solve shelter animal issues thus making it a more standard interaction style and belief system. Just my thoughts as I listen to this great presentation. This detail is fabulous.." - Michelle Russillo
      • "Spontaneous adopters are so surprising and exciting! We had a friend come in with her coworker who was adopting one kitten. Supportive friend adopted the two siblings!" - Amanda Gra
      • "Lawrence- we should chat research!!" - Carley Faughn
      • "Thank you, this was wonderful!!" - Lucy Biesenbach
      • "Excellent info!!  Love the data!!!" - Kathy Duncan
      • "Thank You Lawrence!  Very informative presentation!" - Debra DeVries
      • "Super helpful presentation. So much great information!" - JoAnna Platzer
      • "Amazing presentation!  Thank you, Lawrence!" - Mary @ Maddie's Fund
      • "Amazing presentation can't wait to rewatch!" - Jennifer Salan
      • "Fantastic Information!" - Nanette McCann
      • "AMAZING!!! So grateful to work with Lawrence!!" - Jasmin Bell
      • "Awesome presentation! You're going to kill it in your thesis defense!" - Amanda Gra



    ------------------------------
    Charlotte Otero
    Community Strategist at Maddie's Fund
    she/her
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 13 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat, "Do adopters and participants in the studies show any awareness of how the living conditions may affect the behavior when considering a dog or cat?" - Penny Leisch


    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago

    Thank you for the question!

    No studies that I reviewed have looked in depth at how aware or knowledgeable adopters reportedly are concerning living conditions and dog or cat behavior. Data on housing or living conditions have been collected in some capacity within research, but it is typically classified as a demographic group. In order to look into the question I believe you are interested in, there needs to be defined levels of living conditions that participants/adopters will be classified under in order to compare reported knowledge levels. 

    This would make for an interesting research study, for sure. 



    ------------------------------
    Lawrence Minnis
    Director, Workforce Development
    Humane Rescue Alliance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 13 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat, "I'm probably asking an impossible question here, but any thoughts or ideas as to how or if any of this has changed post-pandemic?" - Jessie Sullivan


    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago

    Not am impossible question, but this is likely a question that researchers are looking into now. We are roughly a little over one year into post-pandemic operations in the industry, and reports are beginning to come out now about the effects of the pandemic on adoptions and other areas of interest. We may begin to see published research that addresses your question in 2024, so stay tuned!!

    As for my individual perspective, I believe we are back to seeing similar traffic and shelter visitors as we saw pre-pandemic. Many places turned to appointment-only site visits during the pandemic and are still refining the visitation policies to fit our new post-pandemic reality. I would argue that shelters may see slightly more "browsers" and "just visitors" for the near-term (2023-2024) because residents are still trying to weather local economic, housing, and future employment trends. So, there may be more related uncertainty that gives people reason to delay decisions like adding a new furry family member.

    Since our current model waits for people to make substantial search and decision progress before our adoption staff engages them, we may be experiencing the effects of the search and decision process being stretched out.



    ------------------------------
    Lawrence Minnis
    Director, Workforce Development
    Humane Rescue Alliance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 13 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat, "is behavior such a key factor for cat adoptions?" - Nancy McKenney


    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago

    Dogs have been the focus of my research, but I believe that behavior is likely a key factor for cat adoptions similar to dog adoptions. Behavior is the biggest uncertainty regarding adoption of any animal species, and it is usually the factor in which we have the least information, aside for medical background. One of my research lab mates is looking to design a study similar to my 2019 research but for cats, so hopefully we will have some data and analysis to provide for your question soon.



    ------------------------------
    Lawrence Minnis
    Director, Workforce Development
    Humane Rescue Alliance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 13 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat, "@Lawrence Minnis are you open to data from Canadian orgs as well?" - Kathy Duncan


    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago

    ABSOLUTELY!! The opportunity to make this a multinational study would be tremendous and provide the first opportunity to examine cultural differences, if any, for adoption decision-making behaviors.

    Please, provide your contact information using this link or the QR code below. I will begin reaching out to you soon to provide more information on the type of support that would benefit the research field and shelter organizations all over.



    ------------------------------
    Lawrence Minnis
    Director, Workforce Development
    Humane Rescue Alliance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 13 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat, "Is there a link to a survey or questionnaire to get accurate demographics on visitors? Something that rescues and shelters can ask everyone who enters to take a moment to fill out, in an effort to get more funds and increase adoptions?" - Amy Charles


    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago

    Unfortunately, I do not have such a link available, but hopefully someone in our Maddie's community may be aware of an option.  However, if you go to my article in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (JAAWS) which was link in the slide and Zoom chat, you can find and download the survey I used for the 2019 research. 

    If you go to the "Supplemental" tab and click to Page 2 of the supplemental material, you can then download the survey and copy whatever questions of demographics that you think is best for your organization to collect. The survey was designed to be filled out in in 2-4 minutes, so using portions of it should only take visitors 2 minutes to complete. 

    Does anyone else have any suggestions?



    ------------------------------
    Lawrence Minnis
    Director, Workforce Development
    Humane Rescue Alliance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 13 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat related to finding out who your shelter visitors are, "We found it difficult to capture this info. We had a sign in sheet that asked for all of this info. Adopters were reluctant to give the info and usually only write their first name, so we stopped. Do you have recommendations on how better capture it?" - Carrie Ridgway


    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: Community Conversations - 9/11/23 - Top Dog Adoption Decision-Making Factors

    Posted 13 days ago

    Sign-in sheets that are passively collected will be difficult to use for information gathering. It will be viewed as a "pointless" step for visitors, who will not want to expend much energy for a procedural step. HOWEVER, if you prompt visitors on the value of their information (ex., "Your data will help the shelter understand how we can best serve you, the visitor." or "Your information will help us understand visitor traffic to ensure that we have staff and resources available for all of our visitors.") then you should see a difference in the completion rate. This allows visitors to understand the value of their effort and feel make open to contribute.

    I used a scripted introduction to engage each visitor and explained their participation helped my research and ultimately the shelter. Surprisingly, I received very few rejections from visitors (avg. of 2-3 rejections per collection and 10-15 completed surveys per visit). We all have a sense of altruism, and when told that their effort will be extremely useful to the shelter, visitors should be more willing to help. 

    Just make sure you collect necessary information in the most efficient way possible.



    ------------------------------
    Lawrence Minnis
    Director, Workforce Development
    Humane Rescue Alliance
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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