Some in the animal protection/sheltering community feel that they should not deter an individual from abandoning an animal or even ask why the animal is being abandoned. We disagree. It has been our experience at Animal CARE Foundation that people are amenable to alternatives to abandoning pets if given assistance. In fact, many seem grateful that someone cares enough to help them keep their families together.
Yes, there are some who will still abandon animals and those individuals will do so, again in our experience, regardless of whether offered alternatives or not. So, why not try?
Of the many reasons people abandon pets, those most responsive to alternatives seem to be the people experiencing problems with a move or those with a behavioral problem. In general, we recommend professional assistance from a veterinary animal behaviorist or an animal trainer for people needing training assistance. There are competent people available to assist with all companion species today. Additionally, we try to remind people that they should not assume that someone else is willing to correct a behavioral problem for an animal that they just adopted.
For moving problems we often only need to assist in interim boarding of animals or in shipping animals to their families once they have settled on the mainland or elsewhere.
Regardless of the reason for abandonment, however, Animal CARE Foundation firmly believes that for every animal that we can keep with his/her current family, there is left a home for an animal which is already homeless.