Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi all, I was just curious what other organizations return policies consist of? What do you consider an owner surrender vs a return? Also what if the animal bit? Do you require the animal be confined at the Society ? If so is there a time period after the adoption takes place where they would have to figure out their own confinement which would be at their own expense? Any and all answers are welcome  

Hi Amanda,

I've been getting a lot of calls or e-mails from other shelters also trying to figure out if their policy is the best policy. While I have no idea if ours is the best, our process does seem to be working. We consider any returns within 90 days to be classified as a "return." For any animals that have been out of our care for over 90 days, we consider them owner surrenders which comes at a cost and is scheduled by appointment only. Our contract states that adoption fees are final and there will be no refunds however depending on the circumstances, we are happy to provide a credit or a refund if it makes sense. During any return we want to focus on how the animal didn't meet expectations and vice versa so we can learn more to better place this animal or find a match for the family. We have a conversation with them asking if we can help or provide any resources to keep the animal in the home. If there was a bite, we want to discuss how it happened, and what were the circumstances so we can get a full picture of what occurred. Just because there was a bite, it doesn't mean the animal is aggressive. I recently heard a webinar on the aspcapro site that shared SFSPCA is trying out a tactic where all returns and owner surrenders can only be scheduled 2 weeks out. They counsel and provide resources to address the reason for return/surrender and then schedule the appointment. They have found after that 2 week period 40% of the people scheduled are either no shows, re-homed on their own or figured out the issue and everything has improved. Of course, if there is a safety concern, they would take the animal back immediately (same here). Something interesting to consider to help manage your animal flow.

Thank you very much! Very helpful!!

I would be very interested in this webinar if you by chance have the link?

I couldn't find on the ASPCAPro site, but I did find something very similar (same topic and organization). Here you go!

We take back any animal that was adopted from our shelter at any time, but we only consider it a return if the animal was adopted within the past year. Otherwise we put them down as owner surrenders, but it doesn't change the policy on taking them back. If a returned animal bit and required quarantine, the shelter quarantines the animal at our expense, and it's made clear that the decision on whether or not the animal will be made available for adoption after the quarantine lies solely with the shelter.