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In Portugal, relinquishment of dogs and cats, despite currently being criminalized, is still a major animal welfare and public health problem. Thus, we developed a questionnaire in order to understand the factors predicting the relinquishment of companion animals in Portugal. We obtained 944 valid answers from people who have adopted companion animals, and never relinquished a companion animal, and 105 valid answers from peoplecompanion animal guardians (36) and non-guardians (69)who have relinquished one. With a view to analyse the factors behind relinquishment only by companion animal guardians, from the total sample, the authors specifically analyzed the surveys completed by 72 participants, divided into two groups: REL (relinquisher, n = 36), i.e., guardians who had relinquished a companion animal and NREL (non-relinquisher, n = 36) i.e., guardians who had never relinquished a companion animal.Considering the whole sample (n = 72), the presence of children and type of dwelling (apartment) were the only significant predictors for a participant to be in the REL group. Also in the REL group, the time spent with the companion animal before relinquishing them was significantly shorter if there were children in the household than if there were no children.Guardians need to understand the time and space that companion animals require, and how this might change over time. Fundamentally, individuals need to examine critically their commitment to caretaking before adopting a companion animal.

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