The Surrendered Pet - Animal Humane Society

The Surrendered Pet
OBJECTIVE:
To understand why animals are surrendered to the Animal Humane Society and how this adds to
the problem of pet overpopulation. Students will also learn empathy for the animals while
understanding how some of these situations could have been prevented.
ACTIVITY OVERVIEW:
Teacher will lead the students in a preliminary discussion about the surrendering of animals.
Students will break into four groups and given a description about a pet that has been surrendered
to the Animal Humane Society. Each team will complete the questions on how each situation
could have been prevented and present their answers to the class.
MATERIALS:
Sample situation worksheet copied for each group
ACTIVITY:
Preliminary Discussion
Why are pets surrendered by their owners
Ask the students if they know of any surrender situations they know of first-hand or
those they believe could happen.
Could any of these situations been prevented
Pretend you were that pet being surrendered. How would you feel
How does the surrendering of pets add to the problem of pet overpopulation
Procedure
Break the students up into four groups. Each group will be given a situation that describes a pet
that has been surrendered by their family to the Animal Humane Society. Students must answer
the questions on the worksheet and present their answers to the class. After each group presents,
discuss with the class if they know of other ways each situation could have been prevented.
Post Discussion
How did each group arrive at their solution Did the solution involve making positive
choices for the pets
Discuss the commitment of adopting a pet into your family and what is involved with
that responsibility
Permission granted to educators to reproduce for classroom use. Reproducing for reprinting or resale prohibited without permission from AHS. AHS 2009

The Surrendered Pet #1 …
The Surrendered Pet
Read the situation and answer the following questions.
A family adopted a puppy into their family. They had two small children under five years old,
which kept the parents very busy. They didn’t have time to potty train the puppy which lead to
the puppy going to the bathroom inside the house. Because of this, they left the puppy outside
most of the time. When the puppy was inside, he jumped on everyone and knocked the children
down. The puppy whined when he was outside and continually pawed at the screen door. The
family became of tired of dealing with the puppy and decided to surrender him to the Animal
Humane Society.
1. What could this family have done differently to prevent this situation
2. What feelings does the pet have
Permission granted to educators to reproduce for classroom use. Reproducing for reprinting or resale prohibited without permission from AHS. AHS 2009

The Surrendered Pet #2 …
The Surrendered Pet
Read the situation and answer the following questions.
A seven-year-old Husky-mix dog was owned by a man who kept him chained up in the yard his
entire life. The dog wasn’t allowed in the house and the owner didn’t spend a lot of time with the
dog. The Animal Humane Society Humane Investigation staff talked to him several times about
providing his dog with water. The owner refused to cooperate, so they impounded the dog.
When the dog was brought to the Animal Humane Society, he was afraid to walk on the floors and
was unresponsive to staff members.
1. What could the dog’s owner have done differently to prevent this tragedy
2. What feelings does the pet have
Permission granted to educators to reproduce for classroom use. Reproducing for reprinting or resale prohibited without permission from AHS. AHS 2009

The Surrendered Pet #3 …
The Surrendered Pet
Read the situation and answer the following questions.
A teacher bought two gerbils, a male and a female. She kept them in an aquarium in her
classroom. She wanted the pair of gerbils to have babies so her students could see the joy of
birth. The gerbils began to breed and soon there were too many for the teacher to handle and
she was unable to find homes for them. She brought three aquariums filled with gerbils to the
Animal Humane Society.
1. What could the teacher have done differently to prevent this situation from happening
2. What feelings does the pet have
Permission granted to educators to reproduce for classroom use. Reproducing for reprinting or resale prohibited without permission from AHS. AHS 2009

The Surrendered Pet #4 …
The Surrendered Pet
Read the situation and answer the following questions.
A family had a cat they adopted seven years ago. They lived in a house but needed to move into
an apartment across town because mom and dad got new jobs. The apartments they liked in that
area didn’t allow animals. The family decided to surrender their cat because they wanted to live in
a nice apartment, close to where they work.
1. What could the family have done differently to prevent having to give up their cat
2. What feelings does the pet have
Permission granted to educators to reproduce for classroom use. Reproducing for reprinting or resale prohibited without permission from AHS. AHS 2009