A lady who saw the photo in the column adopted him, and as he waved goodbye from his carrier, I thought he was heading for a good life.

I heard nothing from the lady until around six months later, when she e-mailed me. She was making a trip to China in a few days, and would I ask the vet to take care of the cat?

Her e-mail troubled me, since she seemed to indicate that adopting Romello was a temporary arrangement and that I should take care of the cat when she couldn't.

Animal-rescuers have sadly learned that people can be extremely vague on the concept of "adopt", thinking nothing of taking an adopted animal into their home and then getting rid of it when they no longer want it.

At times though, a person's decision to return an adopted dog is understandable. One lady, for instance, asked a dog-rescuer for a puppy to live with her in her townhouse. She wanted a quiet, easily trained dog because she was elderly and inexperienced in canine ways. The pup she received turned out to be a four-month-old charmer who was also hyper-active and destructive.

Someone else might have found this pup perfect. This lady, not knowing what to do and not being so active herself, could not control him. Within days, she sent him back to his rescuers. They, after all, should have assessed his personality beforehand and realised that he was unsuitable for her lifestyle.

Another lady, however, waited over nine months before she returned, to their rescuer, the two pups she had adopted. At three months old, they had been cute and naughty. At nearly one year old, they were still naughty, but no longer cute.

She told the rescuer that they were her son's responsibility, but after they destroyed his remote, he didn't want them anymore. If the rescuer didn't take them back, she would abandon them somewhere.

At one point in the conversation, she advised the rescuer to send the two pups to a professional trainer. Well, she was right. They need training - but why should the rescuer be responsible for it? The lady had adopted them. They belonged to her.

The rescuer, not wanting the pups to be dumped somewhere, has taken them back, even though the lady has caused additional problems.

By keeping the pups for so long, she has made it even more difficult for the rescuer to find homes for them. People are seldom interested in adopting dogs past their puppyhood.

Why had the lady waited so long? Perhaps she thought the pups would grow out of their destructive behaviour. They didn't.

In frustration, the rescuer asks me to say, "Animals are not toys that you can throw away when you get bored with them. People should understand that adoption is forever."

By Laurie Rosenthal