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Pet Statistics
- 1. FACTS - Pet Ownership
- 2. Facts About Animal Sheltering
- 3. Show Your Impact - Why Shelters Should Keep Statistics
- 4. Estimation of Dogs and Cats in NYC and Long Island (Including formula to estimate numbers in your re
- 5. Making Sense of Euthanasia Statistics
- 6. How Keeping Statistics Can Help You
- 7. Companion Animal Populations - Historical Context and Future Directions
Show Your Impact - Why Shelters Should Keep Statistics
Staci Veitch, Assistant Editor,
American Humane Association
Show Your Impact:
Why Shelters Should Keep
Statistics
To many busy agencies, recording animal entry data, euthanasia rates, return-to-owner ratios, and tracking spending can seem like a waste of time. But what these numbers can do for your shelter will make the time and effort spent collecting them well worthwhile.
The Oregon Humane Society in Portland, Oregon has been keeping statistics since its inception 132 years ago. Sharon Harmon is executive director and says, "It's like balancing a checkbook. A lot of people don't like to do it, think it's a huge, arduous task, and other people can't imagine living without their checkbook balanced to the cent. People put too much emphasis on counting money, why can't they put that much emphasis on counting animals? Animal numbers are no different."
Making the Numbers Work
A common
misconception among animal welfare agencies is that these numbers
could be used against them. Paranoia about the use of this data
abounds - agencies fear it could be used to defame them, affect
funding issues, or even lessen the importance of a shelter's role
in the community.
Nicholas
Apostle, chairman for the Caribbean Recycling Fund in Puerto
Rico, recently led an effort to collect statistics from animal
welfare agencies on the island. He says the agencies were
reluctant at first. They were fearful that their numbers would be
used to criticize how their agency was run. He convinced them
that the statistics would only strengthen their
operation.
"In the process
of collecting numbers, they found what they were doing wrong and
what they were doing well," says Apostle. "When you get to the
end of the year and you put all those numbers together, you can
see where you put your efforts and it gives you an idea of the
big picture."
Many agencies have limited resources, which discourages them from collecting data. They may feel that they can't devote the staff or the hours required to keep accurate statistics. But the benefits of keeping accurate records should outweigh these objections. Numbers are necessary to build and maintain an agency's profile. Not only in the community but in the government, in the media, and with donors. it's an important part of building a reputable image and getting your agency positive attention.
Proving Your
Agency's Effectiveness
There are many ways your agency can use the data you collect. Some of the most effective include:
Developing
and Focusing Programs. Statistics can reveal such information
as: why animals are relinquished, what kind of animals are
relinquished, return-to-owner ratios, euthanasia rates, etc.
These numbers can help you focus programs and education and even
heighten your profile in the community.
The Humane Society of Tacoma and Pierce Counties in Tacoma, Washington used their numbers to target one of their programs. Steve Pierce, executive director recalls, "We handled 11,000 cats in 1999. Only 150 of those were returned to owners. So that tells us we have a problem with cats. From those numbers we decided to go with mandatory microchipping in our adoption center. No animal will leave without a chip."
Monitoring Operations. Data can reveal how much time is spent on each project, how much money is put into certain programs, and can track your workforce hours. AU of these are beneficial because in the end, they can help you run your agency more efficiently. Apostle uses the example that numbers can reveal details as seemingly trivial as how much soap your agency uses - and how much soap you use could turn out to be a big concern in your agency's operations.
Budgeting
and Funding. When data is collected and evaluated, money can
be budgeted more effectively and funders are more likely to
invest in your operation. Animal welfare is a legitimate and
serious business - numbers prove your agency is operating on a
professional level and providing a valuable
service.
According to
Bob Rohde, executive director for the Denver Dumb Friends League
(DDFL) in Denver, Colorado, "if we want people to believe this is
a professional field, that animal welfare is a legitimate cause,
then we have to provide data to back up what we say. You need
black and white numbers to demonstrate the
reality."
The DDFL was
integral in convincing the State Department of Agriculture to
require animal shelters to keep numbers. Starting this year,
animal shelters in Colorado must keep records of the types of
animals taken in as well as their disposition. According to Keith
Roehr, DVM, "We are requiring this information to better
understand at what level these shelters operate and what
pressures they face."
When Apostle set out to collect statistics from animal agencies in Puerto Rico, one of the things he wanted to find out was how much was being spent. Collectively, he found agencies were spending $3.5 million a year on animal services resulting in an average cost-per-adoption of $343. Apostle is going to use these numbers to help shelters budget more effectively and solicit funding from the government.
Strategizing. How can you go forward with operations
if you don't know where to concentrate your resources? "It's
difficult to decide where you're going if you don't know where
you've been," says Rohde. "Data gives you the 'where you've been'
and the rationale of where you should be going."
The Oregon Humane Society is a perfect example of using data to strategize. After evaluating their numbers, they concluded that they needed more room in their new shelter for cats. So, when they embarked on the design process for their new facility, they included increased space for cats.
Shaping
Legislation and Policy. It's much more impressive to bring
solid figures to a discussion rather than speculation. Apostle is
planning to use statistics to prove to the government in Puerto
Rico that there is a pet overpopulation problem, and that they
should be participating in the solution.
"You're using statistics as a translating tool for people who may not share your love and devotion to animals, but who nevertheless must recognize that strays are a problem. It's a language that bridges that emotional divide. Numbers replace the emotional aspects so many people in the animal business work with."
Considerations
So now you want
to start collecting information or expanding on what you record.
But there are things to consider before getting started. Data
collection will require developing a procedure and training staff
to follow it. Your staff will be responsible for the accuracy of
the data, they have to be prompted to keep information on a
regular basis, for every animal that comes in.
Most
importantly, you need to consider what numbers you want to keep.
The National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP)
recommends that, at minimum, shelters should keep animal entry
and disposition data. This can be done on paper, or for the more
sophisticated, software programs are available that help conflict
and report numbers.
One popular
software program that the Oregon Humane Society and some of the
Puerto Rico shelters use is PetWhere. This program is offered
free of charge to registered nonprofit shelters and animal
organizations. It provides detailed record keeping on things like
animals received, care of animals, euthanasia, animal redemption,
licensing, and field operations, along with numerous other
shelter operations.
Kathy Savesky
is the new executive director of The Bosack-Kruger Charitable
Foundation which produces and distributes PetWhere. She
acknowledges some past problems with PetWhere, and assures that
they are working diligently to address them. Current users are
being sent a "survival kit" to help each agency address its
specific problems with the software. in addition, in 2001 the
new, completely rewritten software will be sent to new and
existing users.
The DDFL
employs Chameleon/CMS software and was the first humane society
in the country to use it. Rohde says, "The software gave us the
opportunity to capture more data. We've always recorded our data,
but this makes it much easier and we can get it in a more refined
format than in the past."
Overall, the
shelters surveyed for this story say that collecting data doesn't
require much of their time, and the process has been beneficial.
Harmon makes the case to keep accurate statistics by stating, "I
think it's frighteningly irresponsible for an agency not to keep
track of its most important asset, [the animals]. it helps
funders understand what you do. it helps you measure the success
of your programs, and it also helps you keep track of what the
problems are in your community. I think that when you work in an
animal shelter you go because you care about animals, not
numbers. You're not an accountant or a bean counter but it's part
of the job ... it's responsible shelter
management."
Ms. Veitch is assistant editor for AHA.
|
Help and information on keeping statistics: To
order PetWhere software, visit their website at |
Courtesy of
63 Inverness Drive East
Englewood, CO 80112
www.americanhumane.org
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