2017
Maximizing the Value of Shelter Data
Dr. Jan Scarlett, DVM, MPH, PhD
Professor Emerita of Epidemiology, Cornell University
Dr. Tiva Hoshizaki, BVSc
Shelter Consultant
Introduction
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We’re interested in how shelters use the animal-associated data they collect
o For purposes of our talk and these notes, we focus on animal-associated data and henceforth, call
that “data”
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We remember that each data point represents an animal, and by recommending that shelters evaluate
numbers, we are in NO way suggesting that shelters diminish the humanity that they extend to each and
every one of those animals
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Lots of attention today is paid to “big data”
o e.g., Shelter Animals Count (www.shelteranimalscount.org)
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Evaluation of shelter’s data, which requires significant resources to collect, is one more influential tools
in your organization’s armory of strategies to improve the health and welfare of shelter and community
animals
Objectives
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Encourage shelters to use their animal-related data more extensively to enhance the health and welfare
of their animals and those in the community they serve
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Focus today is on using data related to intake, movement within the shelter, and outcomes with a focus
on live release rate calculations
Data collected
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In our experience, many shelters use only a fraction of the data they collect
o We believe that using more of that information will benefit the health and welfare of the animals
that shelters serve
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Shelters collect data relating to individual animals that can describe:
o Characteristics (e.g., species, age, gender, breed, color, illness)
o Experiences within the shelter system (e.g., movement, treatment, surgery, transfer, adoption)
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Shelters summarize individual animal data to describe the overall population or a subgroup
o e.g., numbers and percentages at intake or outcome, undergoing S/N surgery
Data used
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Regarding individual animals: the information is used to describe an animal to potential adopters, to plan
for surgery or treatment, to provide a history for adopters, etc.
Maximizing the value of shelter data
Dr. Jan Scarlett & Dr. Tiva Hoshizaki
May 11, 2017
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Regarding populations: the information is used to report intake and outcome numbers, often broken
down by species, source of intake, and type of outcome, number of spay/neuter (S/N) surgeries
performed, particularly for S/N or trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs, daily census, and average length of
stay
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We are particularly interested in these summary data or metrics that describe what is happening in the
shelter and help monitor the shelter’s progress towards meeting its objectives and goals
Impediments to extensive use of these metrics
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Lack of appreciation of how helpful data can be as one more tool for shelters
Lack of direction as to what questions should be asked and which metrics should be evaluated
Software limitations for entry and retrieval of relevant data
Lack of expertise in shelters to manage and interpret data
Poor quality historic data
Reasons to monitor data
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Describe shelter animal-related activities
Set priorities and plan based on data and not by intuition
Evaluate effectiveness of programs and progress towards completion of goals
Identify changes or trends
Provide justification for grant proposals and to communicate with constituencies
Metrics that should be monitored
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Not the same for all shelters
Consensus has developed to collect basic intake and outcome data
We recommend that a shelter’s metrics be tied to its Objectives and Goals
o We like S.M.A.R.T. goals
Intake and outcome data can be used to…
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Describe populations
o By species, age group, source (e.g., stray, owner-guardian surrender), and geographic/political
location
o Other characteristics (e.g., S/N or health status at entry)
o Identify denominator numbers for rates (e.g., adoption, disease)
o Document the extent of shelter activities
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Plan and set goals relating to the shelter’s objectives
o Identify goals and priorities for the shelter
o Increase efficiency and effectiveness of shelter programs by targeting efforts to where they are
most likely to have the greatest impact (e.g., S/N and TNR programs in your community)
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Evaluate the effectiveness of shelter plans and programs
o For measurable outcomes, use shelter data to measure if a program is achieving its desired
outcome AND to what degree
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Maximizing the value of shelter data
Dr. Jan Scarlett & Dr. Tiva Hoshizaki
May 11, 2017
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Identify problems and changes quickly by doing regular monitoring
o Identify impediments to program effectiveness early and not after the fact
o Increase responsiveness to changes occurring in its community (e.g., economy, added housing)
that impact its intake of animals
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Provide justification for grants and enhance the likelihood of funding
o Use shelter data to justify why a grant is so important to the shelter and the community
o Demonstrate to grantors that the shelter has measurable outcomes associated with its request
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Communicate with shelter constituencies (e.g., board of directors, donors, staff, public)
o Demonstrate the breadth and depth of shelter activities
o Document shelter successes and share those successes
o Motivate staff and volunteers by demonstrating the impact of their efforts
o Increase the number of ambassadors for the shelter
Assessing intake and outcome data quality
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Define your categories and train staff for consistency
o After how many days is a returned adoption an owner-surrender?
o What is an owner-intended euthanasia?
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Shelter Animals Count’s Basic Matrix
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http://shelteranimalscount.org/docs/default-source/DataResources/sac_basicdatamatrix.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Create intake and outcome profiles
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Create summary data tables to show all animals in each category
o Basic data to display: by species, by intake or outcome subcategories, by jurisdiction
o Specific or goal-related metrics may include: by age group, by breed, by health status at intake
Calculating rates
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When calculating outcome data, we often talk about “rates”
o To obtain rates, the number of animals with each type of outcome is divided by all animals that
could have experienced an outcome during the interval
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What animals should be included in the denominator?
o What makes sense based on the question?
o “Of animals which could have experienced ________, how many experienced ________?”
▪ E.g., adoption rate = of the animals which could have been adopted, how many were
adopted?
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Maximizing the value of shelter data
Dr. Jan Scarlett & Dr. Tiva Hoshizaki
May 11, 2017
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Some types of intakes may be included/excluded based on the question
▪ Privately owned animals which are temporarily housed in the shelter as part of a program
or services (e.g., S/N, boarding, emergency housing for domestic abuse, rabies quarantine,
TNR)
▪ Animals entering for owner-intended euthanasia
▪ Dead on arrival (DOA)
▪ Seized animals which are being held as part of an investigation
▪ Shelter-neuter-return (SNR)
Example: Return-to-owner (RTO) rate
o Do we include seized animals (is RTO a good thing?)
o Is the denominator all animals or just stray animals?
▪ If you were looking at a program to increase RTO of stray cats, then you would only use
stray cats in the denominator
Comparing live release rates (LRR)
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There are several LRR calculations commonly used, including Asilomar LRR, intake-based LRR, final
disposition-based LRR, Save Rate, etc.
o “Live release” is calculated using the number of animals which leave alive
▪ I.e., adopted, transferred-out, returned-to-their-owners +/- return to field
o Non-live release usually includes euthanasia or death
o Animals still in the shelter may or may not be counted in some of these calculations
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Animals in the numerator must be in the denominator to be considered a rate
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Each rate uses different denominators and, therefore, is answering different questions, e.g.,
o Of animals which entered the shelter, how many left alive?
o Of animals which could have had an outcome, how many left alive?
o Of animals which had an outcome, how many left alive?
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There are endless varieties of “rates” you can calculate…
o When in doubt, ask yourself, does this make sense?
Animal flow and components of an animal’s stay
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Identify bottlenecks in animal flow through your shelter system
An animal’s length of stay is comprised of many stages of processing from intake to outcome
o Each period can be tracked through a status/stage change in the record or a change in location
Calculate the time in each stage
o Time from entering the building to intake exam
o Time spent waiting for S/N
o Time on adoption floor
Calculate total time between major events
o Time from intake to S/N
o Time from intake to euthanasia
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Maximizing the value of shelter data
Dr. Jan Scarlett & Dr. Tiva Hoshizaki
May 11, 2017
Calculating length of stay (LOS)
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When running any LOS report, be sure to know how it is being calculated!
o Shorter time periods (e.g. by month) are more likely to be inaccurate or misleading
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Intake-based: of animals that entered the shelter in July, what was their LOS?
o Only includes animals that had an intake from July 1-July 31
o Doesn’t include animals already in the shelter
o Includes days after July and will change as the animals experience outcomes. If you run the
report in August you will get a different ALOS than if you ran the report in December
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Outcome-based: of animals that left the shelter in July, what was their LOS?
o Only includes animals that had an outcome from July 1-July 31
o Doesn’t include animals already in the shelter or animals that came into the shelter in July
o Includes days before July, e.g. if a cat with a LOS of 365 days left in July, the outcome-based LOS
for July might be very high because of that cat
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Care day-based: of animals that were present in the shelter in July, how long did they stay during July?
o Includes all animals that were present at any time from July 1-July 31
o Only includes days in July—The maximum ALOS would be 31 days
o More accurate for calculating staffing and housing capacity
Conclusion
These uses of data are by no means the only ones. Many shelters in the audience will already be using their data
to improve the health and welfare of their animals—please share those ideas with others!
Interested in learning more? Check out our book!
Every Nose Counts: Using Metrics in Animal Shelters
by J.M. Scarlett, M. Greenberg, and T. Hoshizaki
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