Return to Owner (RTO) rates for cats are reported as low as 2%. However, the percentage of recovered pet cats found within their own neighborhoods ranges from 66-75%. Loudoun County Animal Services, an open-admission shelter with an annual intake of 2,300 animals (46% cats), developed the Tag! You’re Home! Program (TYHP). TYHP encourages finders to return un-microchipped healthy social adult cats to their neighborhoods with a collar containing the shelter's contact information. Finders can return them for intake after five days. Between 7/1/2022 and 12/31/2023, 476 stray cats were admitted, 253 (53%) of which were adults. Of 32 cats enrolled in TYHP as an alternative to intake, 31% were confirmed RTO via owner contact, 31% did not require additional services, 19% were brought back for intake, 13% were kept by finders, and 6% were rehomed by finders. For the cats admitted, the adult RTO rate was 28%. Cats RTOed through the shelter were found a median of 0.27km (IQR 0.07-2.5), or approximately 2.7 city blocks, from home. Over 80% of TYHP cats did not require shelter intake, with a 31% confirmed RTO rate. The TYHP reduced intake of adult stray cats by 9% while maintaining similar RTO rates.
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Dalrymple et al. (2024) studied this question.
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