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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.

Pets may be a positive presence for their owners during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, it is pertinent to identify the hardships associated with pet ownership. We conducted a large-scale survey of U.S. pet owners (n = 2254) in spring and summer 2020 to assess the ways that relationships with pets impacted life during COVID-19. We used thematic analysis to analyze 3671 open-ended responses to three prompts. Reported concerns fell into three major categories: (1) pet-focused (meeting needs of pets; procuring supplies; accessing veterinary care; new and emerging behavioral issues; fate of the pet if owner becomes ill; general safety and well-being), (2) human-focused (issues with working from home; well-being and mental health; balancing responsibilities), and (3) household-focused (disease spread; economic issues). Quantitative analyses showed that the owner’s strength of attachment to their pet, economic resources, and relationship status were associated with the types of concerns expressed. Results from this study indicate that pet owners experienced unique hardships related to changes in everyday life from the COVID-19 pandemic. These hardships should be considered alongside the potential benefits found in other studies in order to manage pet owner expectations, prevent pet relinquishment, and more fully understand multifaceted human-companion animal relationships.

The literature suggests long-term consequences and lack of support for birthmothers following relinquishment of their child for adoption (Memarnia in Listening to the experience of birth mothers whose children have been taken into care or adopted, 2014). But there was not any work done to study in-depth experiences of birthmothers after giving away their child in Pakistan. So, the purpose of the present study was to explore the experiences of mothers who relinquished their child for adoption. As the present study was intended to explore lived experiences of a particular group, the phenomenological research design was used to conduct this qualitative study. An interview protocol was devised to explore the experiences of birthmothers. The sample was comprised of five birthmothers who relinquished their child for adoption and fulfilled the criteria. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the birthmothers, and all the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed before analysis. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to interpret the transcripts of interviews. Further, data verification was done through peer scrutiny, by debriefing sessions with the supervisor, and enriches the description of the phenomenon. Four main themes were emerged: Reasons to Relinquish, Psychological Distress, Coping Strategies, and Disenfranchised Grief. The study present that the experience of relinquishment has a negative impact on birthmother and highlights the need for proper measures to regulate the process of adoption and involvement of psychologists during the process of adoption. Moreover, it stresses the need for acknowledgment of the experience and psychological services for birthmothers who relinquish their child.

Although neurodisability features significantly across child welfare and youth justice cohorts, little research investigates neurodisability among crossover children with dual systems involvement. This study examined differences in childhood adversity, child protection involvement, and offending among crossover children by neurodisability status. Data were from a sample of 300 children (68% male, 31% female, 1% transgender; mean age = 16.2 years, range 10–21) who were charged and appeared in three Australian children’s courts, and who also had statutory child protection involvement in the study jurisdiction. The results indicated that nearly one-half of crossover children had a neurodisability (48%) and this group experienced greater cumulative maltreatment and adversity, earlier out-of-home care entry and offending onset, more caregiver relinquishment and residential care placement, and a greater volume of charges. While substantial differences between specific neurodisabilities were evident, crossover children with any neurodisability had greater odds of having charges related to criminal damage and motor vehicle theft, however they were no more likely to have violent charges relative to other crossover children. The study’s findings demonstrated that the prevalence of neurodisability, and child welfare system responses to this phenomenon, contributes to several offending-related trends observed among crossover children.

Not all dog adoptions are successful. This two-year retrospective study used survival (i.e., time-to-event) analyses to investigate readmissions for dogs adopted from RSPCA Queensland shelters between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. A better understanding of temporal patterns and risk factors associated with readmission may help RSPCA Queensland shelters better target and tailor resources to improve retention by adopters. The failure function (the cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted by day of the adoption period) increased rapidly during the first 14 days of the adoption period. Approximately two-thirds of all returns occurred in this period. This readmission rate may have been influenced by the RSPCA Queensland adoption-fee refund policy. The cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted plateaued at just under 15%. Dog size, age, coat colour, breed, and spending time in foster before adoption were factors associated with the risk of readmission. Failure functions for a low and a high-risk adoption example demonstrated the large degree of difference in hazard of readmission between covariate patterns, with estimated percentages of adoptions being returned by 90 days for those examples being 2% and 17%, respectively. Spending time in foster care before adoption appears to be protective against readmission, presumably because it supports a successful transition to the new home environment. Behaviour support and training provided for dogs during foster care may contribute to improve their outcomes. These findings highlight the profile of the higher-risk dogs potentially providing shelters with an opportunity to examine where and how resources could be allocated to maximize outcomes for the overall cohort. Population attributable 90-day failure estimates were calculated for each of bodyweight and age at adoption, coat colour, spending time in foster care before adoption, and breed. This calculation shows the expected reduction in the cumulative percentage of dogs readmitted by day 90 if the hazards of readmission for higher risk categories were reduced to those of a lower risk category. Expected reductions for individual factors ranged from 1.8% to 3.6% with one additional estimate of 6.8%. Risk of readmission could be reduced through increased development of foster capacity and capability, targeted interventions, improved adopter-dog matching processes, and more effective targeting of support for higher risk dogs, such as older or larger dogs. Population impact analyses provide a macro view that could assist shelters in strategically assessing the return on investment for various strategies aiming to improve adoption outcomes and potentially reduce readmissions.

Firearm relinquishment laws aim to prevent intimate partner homicide, yet enforcement remains fragmented and underresourced. Drawing on 25 stakeholder interviews conducted in California in 2021 and 2024 to 2025, we examined implementation challenges related to domestic violence restraining orders and gun violence restraining orders and explored how recent federal funding cuts have impacted survivor access to legal protection. Findings reveal structural enforcement gaps, design misalignments, and the compounding effects of disinvestment, highlighting urgent needs for policy realignment, sustained investment, and survivor-centered systems. ( Am J Public Health. 2025;115(12): 1967–1970. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308287 )

Every state in the United States has established laws that allow an unharmed newborn to be relinquished to personnel in a safe haven, such as hospital emergency departments, without legal penalty to the parents. These Safe Haven, Baby Moses, or Safe Surrender laws are in place so that mothers in crisis can safely and legally relinquish their babies at a designated location where they can be protected and given medical care until a permanent home can be found. It is important for health care professionals to know about and understand their state’s law and how to respond should an infant be surrendered at their facility. No articles were found in the peer-reviewed literature that describe a method to evaluate nurse competency during infant relinquishment at a Safe Haven location. This article will describe commonalities and differences among these Safe Haven Laws, responsibilities of the hospital and staff receiving a relinquished infant, and 1 hospital’s experience when running an infant relinquishment drill in their emergency department.

Homicide is a leading cause of death among women who are pregnant and up to one year postpartum in the United States. Most incidents are perpetrated by an intimate partner with a firearm. Some states have implemented laws that prohibit firearm possession by perpetrators of domestic violence and, in some instances, include explicit statutory language mandating relinquishment of firearms once a person has become prohibited from possessing them. We examined the impact of these policies on state-level rates of homicide among pregnant and postpartum women during the period 2011-19. We found that state laws prohibiting possession of firearms and requiring relinquishment of firearms by people convicted of domestic violence-related misdemeanors were associated with substantial reductions in homicide of pregnant and postpartum women. State policy makers should consider further strengthening domestic violence-related firearm regulations and their enforcement to prevent homicide of pregnant and postpartum women.

Dogs are relinquished to animal shelters for animal-related or guardian-related reasons. Understanding what drives relinquishment patterns is essential for informing intervention opportunities to keep animals with their guardians. Whereas, overall reasons for relinquishment in a given shelter system have been well explored, analysis of human and animal predictors of relinquishing for a specific reason has not been previously attempted. We used characteristics of relinquishment including year, population of the relinquishing guardian's region, health status of the dog, breed, age group, weight, and sex to predict reasons for dog relinquishment to British Columbia (BC) Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) shelters across BC between 2008 and 2019 ( n = 32,081). Relinquishment trends for puppies and adult dogs were also viewed and described. From 2008–2019, the proportion of dogs relinquished relative to total intake remained consistent (range: 31–35%). Primary reasons reported by guardians were having too many dogs (19%), housing issues (17%), personal issues (15%), financial issues (10%), dog behavior (10%), and guardian health (8%). Over years, an increasing proportion of dogs were relinquished for the reason “too many” (OR = 1.16, 95% CI, 1.10–1.23, p < 0.001) and “behavior” (OR = 1.34, 95% CI, 1.26–1.43, p < 0.001), while a decreasing proportion were relinquished due to financial problems (OR = 0.94, 95% CI, 0.88–1.00, p = 0.047). Being a puppy, mixed breed, small, and from a small or medium population center predicted the reason “too many.” Being a senior, Healthy, or from a medium or large population center predicted the reason “housing issues.” Being a non-puppy, Healthy dog in a large population center predicted the reason “personal issues.” Being a puppy, non-Healthy, female, and from a large population center predicted the reason “financial issues.” Being a larger young adult or adult and Healthy predicted the reason “dog behavior.” Being an adult or senior small dog from a small population center predicted the reason “guardian health.” Particularly promising region-specific intervention opportunities include efforts to prevent too many animals in small population centers, improvement of pet-inclusive housing in large population centers, and providing animal care support in large population centers. Accessible veterinary services, including low-cost or subsidized care, likely benefit dog retention across BC.

In 2018, Dogs Trust (UK) launched the Post Adoption Support project, the largest known prospective cohort study investigating behavioural and health problems post-rehoming of dogs. Individuals adopting a dog from any UK Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre are eligible to receive phone calls regarding their dog’s health and behaviour at specific timepoints after adoption (2 days, 2 weeks, 4 months). Alongside providing an early and proactive framework to support the wellbeing of the adopter and dog, the project collects rich longitudinal data on dog health and behaviour following adoption to assess the development of issues, the impact of support given, and re-relinquishment risk. This paper details the methodology and study design of the Post Adoption Support project and describes a cohort profile of adoptions over an initial 6-month period. In the cohort, behaviour and health data were collected from 5498 adopters, with call success for those eligible ranging from 72% (4 months) to 89% (2 days). Data from these calls will provide significant insights into canine welfare during the first 4 months post-adoption, which can be used to inform strategies for effective and impactful rehoming and post-adoption support.