Meet-and-Greet Experiences that May Impact Dog and Cat Adoption

There may be more science to shelter-pet matchmaking than meets the eye. For over 30 years, animal welfare professionals and others have researched what factors influence a shelter dog or cat getting adopted.

Emily Patterson-Kane, Ph.D., Director, Research at the ASPCA, has taken “adoptability studies” and applied them to the meet-and-greet: an experience shelter professionals know can make or break an adoption. Below are 15 things to consider when conducting in-person and virtual meet-and-greets.

Meet-and-Greet Boosters

Here are some things you can do during a meet-and-greet to increase the likelihood that a pet and a potential adopter will make a love connection:

      In-person

• Pet rests near the potential adopter
• Pet is well-groomed
• Pet and adopter play with a favorite toy
• Pet is in a familiar setting
• Pet referred to in accurate, positive temperament terms such as gentle or clever  

      Virtual

• Pet makes eye contact with the camera
• Pet accessorized with a collar and/or toy
• High-quality photos of pet
• Well-produced videos have an added advantage over still photos

Meet-and-Greet Busters

Here are some things that decrease the likelihood that a dog or cat goes home:

In-person

• Pet overly oriented to staff or volunteer
• Pet ignores adopter
• Pet labeled as “stray”
• Dog labeled as “pit bull”

      Virtual

• Pet shown through bars of a kennel
• For dogs that might be seen as aggressive, dog shown sitting alone

Review the supporting research for more details about:

The Behavior of Dogs in a Rescue Shelter by Wells, D & Hepper, P G (1992).

Why Did You Choose This Pet? Adopters and Pet Selection Preferences in Five Animal Shelters in the United States by Weiss, E., Miller, K., Mohan-Gibbons, H., & Vela, C. (2012).

Preference Assessments and Structured Potential Dog-Adopter Interactions Increase Adoptions by Protopopova, A., Brandifino, M., & Wynne, C. D. (2016).

The Effects of Training and Environmental Alterations on Adoption Success by Luescher, A. U., & Medlock, R. T. (2009).

The Effects of Social Training and Other Factors on Adoption Success of Shelter Dogs by Protopopova, A., Gilmour, A. J., Weiss, R. H., Shen, J. Y., & Wynne, C. D. L. (2012).

Judging a Dog by Its Cover: Morphology but not Training Influences Visitor Behavior Toward Kenneled Dogs at Animal Shelters by Protopopova, A., & Wynne, C. D. (2016).

Descriptive Texts in Dog Profiles Associated with Length of Stay Via an Online Rescue Network by Nakamura, M., Dhand, N. K., Starling, M. J., & McGreevy, P. D. (2019).

Picture Perfect Pups: How Do Attributes of Photographs of Dogs in Online Rescue Profiles Affect Adoption Speed? By Nakamura, M., Dhand, N., Wilson, B. J., Starling, M. J., & McGreevy, P. D. (2020).

Speed of Dog Adoption: Impact of Online Photo Traits by Lampe, R., & Witte, T. H. (2015).

Showcasing Adoptable Pets Through Photos and Videos: Increasing Visibility, Interest, Traffic and Maybe Adoptions Too by Dowling-Guyer, S. (2018).

What Makes a Dog Adoptable? An Eye-Tracking Investigation by Isgate, S., & Couchman, J. J. (2018).

Effects of Video Footage versus Photographs on Perception of Dog Behavioral Traits by Pyzer, C., Clarke, L., & Montrose, V. T. (2017).

Factors Relevant to Adoption of Cats in an Animal Shelter by Fantuzzi, J. M., Miller, K. A., & Weiss, E. (2010).

Factors Affecting the Selection of Cats by Adopters by Sinn, L. (2016).

The Effect of Housing and Handling Practices on the Welfare, Behaviour and Selection of Domestic Cats (Felis sylvestris catus) by Adopters in an Animal Shelter by Gourkow, N., & Fraser, D. (2006).

An Evaluation of the Role the Internet Site Petfinder Plays in Cat Adoptions by Workman, M. K., & Hoffman, C. L. (2015).

Perception of Cats: Assessing the Differences Between Videos and Still Pictures on Adoptability and Associated Characteristics by Schoenfeld-Tacher, R., Kogan, L. R., & Carney, P. C. (2019).

Investigating the Impact of Indemnity Waivers on the Length of Stay of Cats at an Australian Shelter by Pockett, J., Orr, B., Hall, E., Chong, W. L., & Westman, M. (2019).

Is There a Bias Against Stray Cats in Shelters? People's Perception of Shelter Cats and How It Influences Adoption Time? by Dybdall, K., & Strasser, R. (2014).

Population Characteristics of Cats Adopted from an Urban Cat Shelter and the Influence of Physical Traits and Reason for Surrender on Length of Stay by Miller, H., Ward, M., & Beatty, J. A. (2019).

Using Free Adoptions to Reduce Crowding and Euthanasia at Cat Shelters: An Australian Case Study. Crawford, H. M., Fontaine, J. B., & Calver, M. C. (2017).

Factors that Influence Adopters’ Preference of Shelter Dogs by Thorn, J. M., & Mitchell, J. T. (2013).  Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 4(8), e41-e42.

Dog breed stereotypes and effects of handler appearance on the perception of pit bulls. In 22nd Annual Conference of the International Society of Anthrozoology, Chicago, IL by Gunter, L. (2013, July).