Hearts Break as 'Sweet' Cat is Returned to Shelter Day After Adoption

An animal shelter from Atlanta has broken hearts on social media after revealing that one of their kittens who was recently adopted got returned to the shelter the day after.

The post was shared on TikTok on Tuesday under the username @atlmotherofkittens. In it, the shelter Furkids Atlanta said that the kitten, Dizzy, was adopted earlier on Monday, but was returned on Tuesday morning for no reason at all.

The post comes with a caption that reads: "This is dizzy. She was adopted yesterday. This morning I got a call that the adopter wants to return her less than one day after adoption... the reason? No reason at all. She's only 4 months old and has had such a rough start to life. But she's still so resilient and friendly. No baby should have to endure this much change and fear so early in life.

"All of our volunteers were so happy to hear she got adopted, they will be heartbroken to hear that she's getting returned so soon... I'm used to processing returns but this one really hurts."

Furkids Atlanta told Newsweek: "She is one of many who unfortunately get returned. We surprisingly get a lot of returns of kittens. I think people may not know exactly how much goes into adopting a kitten, yet everyone seems to come in wanting only kittens when we have plenty of mature adult cats."

The post went on to explain Dizzy's story: "[She] is such a special kitten. She was left in a dumpster at a gas station by the highway as a baby, then nursed back to health at FurKids. All our volunteers were jumping with joy & rooting for this sweet girl when we heard she was getting adopted yesterday. I don't know how to break the news to them that she will be getting returned after less than a day. This part of animal rescue makes me so sad and sick to my stomach.

"We vet our applicants thoroughly and even though they say they would never return an animal, returns do happen even in such a short amount of time... Animals are not [disposable]. Moving locations so frequently at such a young age is traumatizing to them. Please be responsible and only adopt when you know you're ready to make a lifelong dedication to that animal," the post adds.

About 60 percent of adopted pets are no longer in their adoptive homes six months after their adoption, and 20 percent are returned to the original shelter.

Each year, 6.3 million pets are surrendered to U.S. shelters, which is an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 during January 2023, an increase of 1,744 compared with January 2022, the 24Pet 'Shelter Watch Report' found.

Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs, and behavior rehabilitation.

The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 35,700 views and more than 3,700 likes on the platform.

One user, Bad_vibrations, commented: "Less than a day!? Those people shouldn't be allowed to adopt ever again." And Lizhew posted: "Sweet Dizzy looks so much like my tabby baby, I hope she finds her forever home."

User7181653914371 added: "It takes patience and allowing the kitty to adapt to its new environment. Anyone adopting should be aware of that. I hope she finds a real loving home."

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