Correspondence - #52 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The shelter's animal checkbook doesn't balance When confronted with a detailed analysis of the shelter's kill rate, length of stay, return rate, etc., OC Animal Care (OCAC) and OC Community Resources (OCCR) refuse to engage with any analysis. As part of their effort to avoid confronting the deterioration of the shelter's performance, their mantra is that they are "transparent" and publish "industry standard" statistics. Let's set aside the fact that the industry standard obviously does not preclude additional analysis - warranted in this case by declining performance. We'll take a look at what the Industry Standard says and show that OCAC/OCCR published statistics do not conform to it. The Industry Standard is clear We highlighted in yellow key entries in the Asilomar Accords standard in the attached file "Industry Standard Asilomar Accords.pdf". They show (emphasis added): A BEGINNING SHELTER COUNT (date) The number of dogs and cats in your shelter or in your care including fosters at the beginning of the reporting period. W ENDING SHELTER COUNT (date) The number of dogs and cats in your shelter or in your care including fosters at the end of the reporting period To check the accuracy of the shelter data you've compiled, the Beginning Shelter Count (A) plus the Adjusted Total Intake (H) should equal the Total Outcomes (V) plus the Ending Shelter Count (W): A + H = V + W The accuracy check can also be written as A+H-V=W, i.e., Initial+Intake-Outcomes=Ending. We prefer the latter formulation, because it's reminiscent of a checkbook or bank statement. We likewise highlighted in yellow key passages from the Shelter Animals Count template in the attached file "Industry Standard SAC Basic Data Matrix.pdf". (Shelter Animals Count is often cited by the OCAC.) They show (emphasis added): Beginning and Ending Shelter Counts These numbers help frame the population of the animals sheltered and cared for by the organization. (...j not forgetting to count those animals who have been admitted but who are not currently within the shelter (foster care, in the care of a veterinary hospital, etc). Beginning Count, Ending Count: TOTAL IN CARE Number of animals at the shelter, offsite locations, and in foster care on the first and last day of the month. In both standards, the beginning and ending count are an integral part of the report. Both specify that all animals that are the shelter's responsibility, even if not on the premises (e.g., fosters), are to be included. Asilomar explicitly shows a data check, but that's just a sanity check any sensible observer would do with these statistics. If you strip down the complexity, these statistical tables are like a checkbook: You start with a number of animals, you have intakes that add to it, you have outcomes (live and dead) that subtract from it, and that gives you the final number of animals. Or it would, if you put all the entries in correctly. Animal Counts - Page 1 of 6