Some Humane Societies are very strict about requirements for adopting animals.
I had to give THREE references and answer tons of questions, plus they said they might 'check up on me' later. (!) When I adopted my new Suki kitty last month, they said two other people had applied to adopt her before me...but were REJECTED. I got lucky.
The society tells everyone who adopts that if things don't work out well for any reason they should bring the animal back- that they'd much rather have the animal returned to them than have it live with an inappropriate match for an owner. There will always be people out there who don't take their adopting as seriously as they claim to, and who misrepresent themselves or their situation. It's impossible to know what goes on in these people's minds, but the reasons aren't as important as the animal's longterm wlefare. Best to make sure people know they can bring the animal back no problem- best for the animal.