Shelter Animals Count + Hill’s Pet Nutrition Partnership to Strengthen Data-Driven Practices in Animal Welfare
November 8, 2024
Hosted by PEDIGREE Foundation and Shelter Animals Count, Moderated by Kristen Hassen
Dog intakes into animal shelters have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels while adoptions and transfers have slowed down, resulting in capacity crises in animal shelters and an increase of 50,000 dogs euthanized in 2023 vs. 2019. On the positive side, we are learning more than ever from data and research, and we can use both to guide our choices about how to spend our precious organizational time and resources.
In this series, Pedigree Foundation and Shelter Animals Count came together to share the latest data on dogs, present programs and practices that are working right now, and discuss the systemic problems that must be solved in order for us to maintain humane care and to realize positive trends in lifesaving.
These calls were designed specifically for animal shelter decision-makers and are most helpful for people who oversee programs or people who will be able to recommend and steward new pilot programs. Animal welfare professionals of all levels are encouraged to watch the series.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of all the shelter pets in the United States resided in foster homes. Since then, there has been a marked decline in foster placements, with shelters and rescues citing difficulty recruiting new foster caregivers, not enough staff to manage foster programs, and challenges with getting dogs from foster to permanent homes. But are we writing off foster as a key solution too quickly? In this session, we’re joined by experts Kelly Duer (Maddie’s Fund), Lisa Gunter (Virginia Tech), and Kim Van Syoc (Banfield Foundation). We’ll hear about eight types of dog foster programs and the specific challenges they solve.
Is your shelter or rescue experiencing a space crisis? In this session, we’ll explore the seasonal data and show you just how many dogs are in shelters right now compared to past summers. We’ll talk to organizations who are effectively balancing intakes and outcomes and learn the strategies that are working well. We’ll also look at the role of emergency fostering, low-barrier volunteer programs, and public pleas. If you’re struggling for space, this session will leave you with a host of new ideas and solutions.
New SAC data reveals that dogs of all sizes are now waiting longer for adoption compared to 2019. For large dogs, they’re now waiting twice as long, contributing to increasing full shelters. In this webinar, we’re joined by Monica Dangler (Pima Animal Care Center Director), Dr. Kate Hurley (UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program Director), and Jerrica Owen (National Animal Care and Control Association Executive Director). Learn why bites and other safety incidents may increase when shelters are full or over capacity, and dogs experience a longer length of stay and long periods of confinement in kennels. In this session, we’ll visit with shelters that are taking a safety-first approach to dog management and how they’re tracking bites, falls, and other safety issues. Participants will be invited to complete a shelter safety self-assessment to determine if you’re doing everything you can to keep pets and people safe. We’ll also share 10 free, simple changes you can make now to improve shelter dog safety.
Dive into the current state of shelter dogs with us. We’ll explore trends in intakes, length of stay, and outcomes. We’ll also look at how the current bottleneck is impacting the various types of animal welfare orgs and we’ll hear from you about how dogs are faring in shelters in your community. Attendees will have an opportunity to talk about their own data and how it compares to the national dataset. Finally, we’ll show you how to quickly assess whether you’re experiencing a change in an intake or outcome trend and how to check in to find out if that state of shelter dogs in your community is on par with other communities.