Cats available for adoption: why adopt rather than buy a cat?
Vets still have a lot left to do in the struggle against abandonment: animals are not just a fashion accessory.
Number of cats abandoned
Despite a slight downward trend in the number of abandoned animals, shelters received a total of 33,330 cats last year.
Based on the data from 2015 and previous years, the rate of cat abandonment is around 7 cats per 10,000 inhabitants, giving us an idea of the large scale of the problem, especially since not every household has a cat. Abandonment affects 1% of the 3.6 million cats in Spain.
What happens to cats in shelters and animal refuges?
An alarming fact is that only 3.3% of rescued cats were returned to their owners. Most rescued cats were not identified correctly, only 3.1% had an ID microchip implanted. Yet the most worrying aspect, however, is that these figures are even worse than those observed in previous years.
Around 41.2% of the cats in shelters are adopted. Another notable point is that 16.4% of these adoptions were carried out by people from abroad, which suggests that Spain still has a lot of room for improvement in the adoption of cats.
Of the cats that are not adopted, 14.7% remain in shelters, but 15.5% are not so fortunate and are ultimately sacrificed.
These data make it patently clear that promoting the adoption of cats is one of the best ways of reducing the number of cats still living in shelters. In fact, in recent years, the number of animals in shelters has tended to decline. What is more, a law against euthanasia came into force in 2008, reducing the proportion of euthanised cats from 38.2% to 15.0%.
The main reasons why people adopt cats
1. Awareness of the problem of abandonment (38.5%)
2. Through working with animal welfare organisations (20.2%)
3. Recommendation by a trusted acquitance (14.8%)
Benefits of taking home a cat available for adoption
- Adoption is one of the best means of reducing the number of homeless animals.
- It relieves part of the enormous cost of maintaining an animal shelter.
- Direct benefit for the animal.
- Adds a new member to the family.
- Helps uphold animal welfare and rights.
Adopting a cat requires some thought, potential owners must assess how the arrival of a new member will affect the family’s quality of life. Potential owners must also identify how to help the cat adapt to its new home, thus avoiding behavioural problems which could lead to the animal being returned to the shelter.
To improve the number of cats available for adoption who find a new home, awareness needs raising throughout the whole of society, including, of course, veterinary surgeons and government bodies.
