... In order to gain insight into, and thereby increase, adoption outcomes, research has examined what characteristics people prefer in their pets (Garrison & Weiss, 2015;King, Marston, & Bennett, 2009;Wells & Hepper, 1999) and what characteristics influenced an adopter's decision to adopt a specific pet (Gourkow & Fraser, 2006;Sinn, 2016;Weiss, Miller, Mohan-Gibbons, & Vela, 2012). Many studies have also investigated the factors associated with a decreased length of stay until adoption (Brown, Davidson, & Zuefle, 2013;Brown & Morgan, 2015;Diesel, Smith, & Pfeiffer, 2007;Fantuzzi, Miller, & Weiss, 2010;Gourkow & Fraser, 2006;Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher, & Hellyer, 2013;Lepper, Kass, & Hart, 2002;Posage, Bartlett, & Thomas, 1998;Protopopova, Brandifino, & Wynne, 2016;Protopopova, Gilmour, Weiss, Shen, & Wynne, 2012;Protopopova, Mehrkam, Boggess, & Wynne, 2014;Sinski, Carini, & Weber, 2016). Studies examining the relationship between physical characteristics, length of stay, and adoption outcomes provide robust evidence that physical characteristics and appearance are important factors to adopters, with age; size; sex; neuter status; purebred pedigree; breed/breed category; and coat color, pattern, and length all having an effect (Brown et al., 2013;Brown & Morgan, 2015;Diesel et al., 2007;Kogan et al., 2013;Lepper et al., 2002;Posage et al., 1998;Sinski et al., 2016). ...