Animal abuse and abandonment, hoarders avoiding prosecution, unlicensed animal shelters – these are all real challenges in Hong Kong, as reported in “The great unwanted” (September 24). Yet as animal welfare organisations struggle with capacity and funding to help more animals in need, they are not helping the situation by inflexibly limiting their pool of prospective adopters using criteria that in many cases may not directly support positive outcomes for the adopted pets. A Google Form for adoption cannot tell you the capacity for love and abilities of a prospective fur parent. Applicants should not just be judged by a narrow check-the-box exercise – the size of their home, work nature and schedule, their family size – which shows a limited part of the picture and doesn’t indicate whether they can provide quality care and a loving home for their pet. A big house with children and a domestic worker does not necessarily mean a dog or cat would be cared for and happy. Pets need engagement, interaction, play and enrichment. Dogs need regular walks. Pet negligence can happen even in privileged expatriate families. A 1,000 sq ft flat is still a prison for a dog that doesn’t get taken on regular long walks. Boredom and anxiety in a dog are balanced by exercise and enrichment-focused play and toys, not a harbour view. The younger generation has embraced the gig economy and can find a dog walker without having a full-time helper. While clear adoption criterion are needed to ensure animals go to good homes, the lack of flexibility and the focus on particular metrics are making adoption difficult for people who would be dedicated pet owners. I recently tried to adopt a dog and the process was difficult and somewhat illogical. I live in a 400 sq ft space, but because half of this is outdoor living space it only counted as 200 sq ft. My family would be helping to take the dogs for extra walks during my work day, but because we don’t live together and I don’t have a full-time helper, this was not considered despite having experience training and caring for dogs. Potential adopters could be more singles and fewer families with domestic workers, people with decent but smaller homes or longer working hours, but who have a bigger drive to stay healthy and build a family unit with their pets, and more conviction in adopting, not shopping, for a pet. H.Y. Fong, Wan Chai