Real data to address a real issue

We are now aware of numerous reports from shelters nationwide that animal welfare facilities are facing unprecedented capacity issues. In my last blog, we looked at some of the trends that were worrying me. Unfortunately, the data from July has definitively confirmed the crisis I was concerned about is now a reality. That said, as real as this is, it is interesting to see that these trends follow previous patterns, but because we started 2021 with so few animals, the percentage impact is much greater.

Before we jump in, you can do your own deep dive into our data set - We are launching a beta version of a new interactive data dashboard. I invite you to go to services.24pet.com/Shelterwatch/ to explore the data yourself.

First, let's quickly talk about cats. It is clear we are back to the normal seasonal pattern. COVID hit right at the start of "kitten season" in 2020, so it seriously disrupted the pattern, but it rebounded to normal levels in the fall of last year. So, for now, I'll leave it at that regarding cats.

The critical situation is currently affecting dogs. We have surpassed the 2019 population levels. As you can see in the chart below, dogs in physical shelter buildings have reached about equal levels to previous years, but there are additional animals in foster. The good news is that foster starts are up, allowing foster networks to make room for some of the needed capacity.

Now, the question comes back to why shelters are filling up. As we have seen, it is not because of intake. Overall, intakes are actually down; this is a great area to explore in the new portal. For example, some intake types are up, but they have been overall balanced by the lack of animals being transferred in.

How is it possible for shelters to reach capacity when intakes are at reasonable levels? The answer is the length of stay, which has increased by two days. The increase in length of stay means that, over time, we are not getting animals placed, while a modest increase in intakes is taking place this year. Some blame adoptions, but the data reflects adoptions were up while intakes were down, so the placement average (adoptions divided by total intakes) is reasonable.

The placement issue remains primarily on the continued drop in Transfer, which is now down 13% from 2020 and 31% from 2019. Unfortunately, when the length of stay increases and positive outcomes don't keep pace, the result is an increase in Euthanasia. Although significantly less than in 2019, Euthanasia has been up 71% since February.

The two big questions to consider are: Why is the length of stay up, and why are transfers down? I noted the same thing in my last blog. However, in seeing more data and talking to so many of you, the assumption is that transfer is causing the length of stay to increase, or is there something about these dogs that makes them "untransferable"? Pethealth's commitment has always been, and even more so since the start of this pandemic, to help, and we will continue to make data available quickly to provide our partners with the ability to take meaningful action to bring vitality to lives, furry and otherwise.