Cat adoption should be an easy win—pairing cats in need with people ready to love them. However, outdated barriers in the adoption process, such as home inspections, background checks, landlord checks, and even interviews with the entire family (including other pets!) can delay or derail those connections. A growing body of research and best practice models, including the Adopters Welcome Manual from The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, shows that these adoption hurdles do not significantly reduce the rates of returned animals or failed adoptions. In fact, embracing open adoptions, which are free from complex and often arduous adoption requirements, is a win-win-win, because it increases adopter inclusion, alleviates strain on shelter resources, and ultimately helps more cats find the loving homes they deserve.
Over the past three years, Cat Care Society has moved to open adoption policies and procedures with encouraging results. These changes have allowed us to remove unnecessary barriers while maintaining high standards of care and support for both cats and adopters.
The Myth of the “Perfect” Adopter
It’s understandable that shelters want to make sure that cats are placed in safe and loving homes. However, well-meaning animal shelters and rescues often rely on a set of elaborate procedures designed to identify the “perfect” home. This creates a lengthy and complex adoption process which feels like a judgmental interrogation, ultimately turning off potential adopters. According to the Best Friends Adoption Barrier Study, top barriers to adopting include a long approval process, rejected applications due to type of home or hours worked, and strict rules and requirements deemed too intrusive or invasive.
Additionally, a study published in the Journal of Animal Welfare Science found that strict and elaborate screening is not correlated with lower return rates. Instead, these practices unintentionally create obstacles for well-meaning adopters, often disproportionately affecting people who are already marginalized or underserved, including renters, young people, and individuals with lower incomes and/or non-traditional lifestyles. The Million Cat Challenge, a joint project of two of the most widely-recognized shelter medicine programs in the world, emphasizes that the strict adoption barriers push people to obtain cats elsewhere, such as from acquaintances, friends, or Craigslist where paperwork and screening are not required. This can lead to problems such as the cat being a poor match for the home due to a lack of behavioral records, as well as potential health concerns as the cat may not have received essential vaccinations or been spayed or neutered.
The Reality: Open Adoptions Get More Cats Into Loving Homes
The Million Cat Challenge initiative promotes open adoptions and emphasizes the importance of “conversations designed to help anyone walking into the shelter feel respected and anyone walking out to be more educated and hopefully with a pet they love.”
Based on a recent national survey, 58% of potential cat owners prefer shelters, and 45% prefer rescues, yet only 24% adopted from a shelter and even fewer (13%) adopted from a rescue. People want to adopt from shelters; we should let them! By making the process less intimidating, shelters can connect with more people and position themselves as a trusted resource for support and guidance should issues arise after adoption to help reduce returns and rehoming. Increasing adoptions from shelters can also have a greater long-term impact. By eliminating barriers, “the shelter can place a cat who has been neutered and vaccinated and comes with cat care education and future support, possibly leading to a reduction in shelter cat intake in the future.”
The Positive Effects of Reducing Barriers
Increased Adopter Inclusion
Restrictive adoption policies often exclude capable pet parents. As noted by the Human Animal Support Services report, complex and discouraging adoption policies favor a narrow adopter profile, leaving many loving homes overlooked. Reducing unnecessary barriers allows shelters to reach a broader, more diverse group of adopters and increase successful adoptions.
Alleviated Strain on Shelter Staff and Resources
In the SAC Adoption Pulse Check survey, it was revealed that shelters are often overwhelmed with processing adoption applications, particularly when complex or unnecessary barriers are in place. Simplifying the process not only speeds up the time it takes for animals to find homes but also gives staff more time to address other critical needs, such as new intake, animal care, community outreach, and adopter education.
Improved Success Rates for Adoptions
As noted earlier in this article, successful adoptions are less about strict screening processes and more about providing adopters with support, information, and education. Additionally, research increasingly shows that open adoption practices do not compromise long-term placement success. An article from The Association for Animal Welfare Management highlighted a study that looked at pet return rates at 1,400 organizations ranging from small rescues to large government animal control organizations from 2010-2019 and found no statistical difference or change in return rate even as some of those organizations shifted to open adoptions during that timeframe. Removing adoption barriers places more cats in loving homes and reduces strain on shelters leading to positive outcomes for all.
Cat Care Society’s Approach
At Cat Care Society (CCS), we didn’t just read the research, we acted on it. Over the last three years, we have intentionally removed restrictive adoption barriers which has allowed us to help more cats than ever before.
The results of these changes are clear. By comparing our data from Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2025, the impact of our open adoption process is undeniable:
- Faster Placements: The average time a cat spends in our care has significantly decreased from 58 days down to just 32.
- While streamlining the adoption process has contributed to this improvement, we have also strengthened our internal processes by clearly defining when an animal is medically and behaviorally ready for adoption and improving communication around each individual cat’s needs. This ensures adopters feel informed and confident in the commitment they are making, without compromising care.
- Increased Intake: Because cats are finding homes faster, we’ve been able to take in more cats. Our annual intake grew from 716 to 1,280 cats.
- Decreased return rate: Our return rate in FY22 was 6.3% and in FY25 it was down to 3.3%.
- This is a result of focusing on making it easier for the right people to find the right cat, which we’ve done by improving our initial postings to better reflect each cat’s behavior, medical needs, and preferences, and by educating adopters on how to care for their unique cat before they go home.
- More Families Made: Our total adoptions have climbed steadily year-over-year as a result of our open adoption policies and increased intake, rising from 743 to 1,105.
These increased adoptions have helped us connect with more community members and grow the Cat Care Society family and our impact, for which we are extremely grateful. Reducing barriers to adoption is essential, and our staff, volunteers, donors, and foster caregivers have helped make this impact possible. Their support ensures that as we grow, we continue to provide the high-quality care and education that makes these placements successful for the long haul.
Conclusion
Simplifying the cat adoption process is not just a good idea, it’s critical for the health and well-being of both the cats and the people who want to adopt them. Research consistently shows that elaborate adoption processes do not significantly reduce cat return rates, and in some cases, they can discourage potential adopters. By focusing on inclusion, trust, and education we can ensure that every cat has the best possible chance at finding a home.
