Local Shelter Statistics
Statistics for the Shelbyville/Shelby County Animal Shelter are presented in Excel spreadsheet format, viewable on screen. You do not have to have EXCEL to view them. Navigation between the months and year-end cumulative is at the bottom, using tabs.
These spreadsheets were created by a volunteer meticulously going through 365 days worth of daily reports we requested from the City through a Access to Records request. Upon review of these logs, we discovered many instances of cats and dogs disappearing or appearing overnight. Those instances are documented in a tab called, “Details on Errors” for 2008 and 2009.
Also, the City does not detail the condition, physical or behavioral, of the animals they euthanize/kill on a consistent or documented basis. Therefore, we made assumptions, as is customary within the industry when not otherwise reported by the Shelter, that all animals entering and leaving the facility are healthy. You can read more about what other communities are doing by visiting the Asilomar Accords website.
NOTE: The Shelter codes cats and dogs that die while in foster care, die at the shelter, or come up missing/lost from the shelter as “released to owner” and counted and reported to everyone, including the newspaper, as a positive outcome, i.e. “released to owner.” We have changed their status to “Died/Lost in Shelter/Care” and recorded their entries in that cell on each spreadsheet. Also, anytime the cat or dog was recorded as transferred to rescue, we changed their status from “released” or “adopted” to “Transfers to Organizations outside Community/Coalition.”
Definitions Related to Spreadsheets
Rolling Live Release Rate
Rolling live release rate includes all the animals that could have been released alive during the time period. A rolling live release rate adjusts for a growing or expanded in shelter population, to get a clearer picture of what percentage of animals are leaving the shelter through live release.
The formula to calculate the Rolling Live Release: Animals Released Alive during the time period divided by (Animals on hand at start time +Total live intake during the time period), where Live Release is the sum of animals leaving the shelter through adoption, rescue placement, shelter transfer or reclaim by owners; all positive outcomes are included.
Died/Lost in Shelter Care
While the Shelbyville/Shelby County Shelter chooses to record animals that die or become lost or stolen as “released to owner”, and thus a positive outcome, for the purposes of our reporting we have segregated those outcomes into “Died/Lost in Shelter Care”.
Categories/Definitions of Shelter Animals
The Shelter doesn’t currently track this sort of information. As is industry standard in these cases, we have recorded everything as healthy. For educational purposes, we have included the definitions here for you to familiarize yourself with them.
Healthy: The term “healthy” means and includes all dogs and cats eight weeks of age or older that, at or subsequent to the time the animal is taken into possession, have manifested no sign
of a behavioral or temperamental characteristic that could pose a health or safety risk or otherwise make the animal unsuitable for placement as a pet, and have manifested no sign of disease, injury, or congenital or hereditary condition that adversely affects the health of the animal or that is likely to adversely affect the animal’s health in the future.
Treatable: The term “treatable” means and includes all dogs and cats who are “rehabilitatable” and all dogs and cats who are “manageable.”
Rehabilitatable: The term “rehabilitatable” means and includes all dogs and cats who are not “healthy,” but who are likely to become “healthy,” if given medical, foster, behavioral, or other care equivalent to the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community. (Treatable-rehabilitatable conditions are generally considered to be curable.)
Manageable: The term “manageable” means and includes all dogs and cats who are not “healthy” and who are not likely to become “healthy,” regardless of the care provided; but who would likely maintain a satisfactory quality of life, if given medical, foster, behavioral, or other care, including long-term care, equivalent to the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community; provided, however, that the term “manageable” does not include any dog or cat who is determined to pose a significant risk to human health or safety or to the health or safety of other animals. (Treatable- manageable conditions are generally
considered to be chronic.)
Unhealthy & Untreatable: The term “Unhealthy & Untreatable” means and includes dogs and cats who, at or subsequent to the time they are taken into possession, 1. have a behavioral or temperamental characteristic that poses a health or safety risk or otherwise makes the animal unsuitable for placement as a pet, and are not likely to become “healthy” or “treatable” even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community; or 2. are suffering from a disease, injury, or congenital or hereditary condition that adversely affects the animal’s health or is likely to adversely affect the animal’s health in the future, and are not likely to become “healthy” or “treatable” even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community; or
3. are under the age of eight weeks and are not likely to become “healthy” or “treatable,” even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community.
