Using Data to Solve Problems and Save Lives

Although the problem of dog and cat homelessness is widespread, every community has its own special challenges and resources. What are your spay/neuter rates, and how can those be improved? Is there a housing problem? Do your local veterinarians feel shut out from the shelter and rescue community? Are animal welfare organizations working together, or against each other? Is there transparency and accountability about animal control and shelter statistics? Getting an accurate picture of what's happening in your community is the vital first step to change.

Webcasts & Videos

• Magical Metrics and Dazzling Data: How Medical Fact-Finding Guides Shelters to Improved Animal Health

  March 2012
  Ever wish you had a road map to saving more lives in your shelter? Gathering and understanding data will provide you with exactly that. Please join Maddie’s Institute and Drs. Jan Scarlett and Elizabeth Berliner for a special two-part webcast series on using data to save lives.  Read More

• Maddie's Fund on Statistics

  June 2011
  Without accurate, transparent statistics, it's impossible to come up with solutions for problems, to define success, or to recognize failure.  Read More

• Using Shelter Metrics to Measure and Set Goals

  August 2011
  Dr. Jan Scarlett presents Using Shelter Metrics to Measure and Set Goals at the 2011 ASPCA/Maddie's Shelter Medicine MiniConference. Learn about what data you can get interesting information from and why it is important to collect data.  Read More

• Saving Treatable Pets - From Skeptic to Believer

  May 2011
  There's nothing like actually doing something to convince you that it can be done! That's what Erie County, New York, found out when they set out to save all their community's treatable pets, and saved 65 percent of them in a single year. Cats with chronic urinary tract infections, pets with diabetes – and yes, a paraplegic pit bull. They did it, and so can you.  Read More

• Know Your Capacity for Humane Care

  May 2010
  It's tempting to admit more animals than shelters can reasonably care for. After all, there are so many animals in the community that need help. Yet most shelters face limitations of space, staffing and financial resources. To help you face this challenge, our experts share methods for creating faster flow-through in the shelter - and ultimately save more lives.  Read More

Articles & Editorials

• Searchable Database to Compare Community Lifesaving

  This page offers users the ability to search and compare community and shelter data from hundreds of organizations.  Read More

• A Model Pet Evaluation Matrix

  April 2011
  Use the Pet Evaluation Matrix provided here for your organization or community.  Read More

• Using Data to Make Austin a No-Kill City

  March 2012
  Today, Austin has a save rate of 91%. That wasn’t the case just four years ago when 44% of the animals coming into the Austin Animal Center were losing their lives. Dr. Ellen Jefferson recounts how she used the shelter’s data to figure out bottlenecks in the system and develop and fine-tune programs to fill in the gaps.  Read More

• 71% of Americans Favor No-Kill Editorial

  February 2012
  Maddie’s Fund President Rich Avanzino makes a compelling argument for transparency, and charges that the impulse for secrecy in animal welfare counters lifesaving progress.  Read More

• Data-Smata, Who Cares About Data?

  February 2012
  Are you on the fence about the importance of publishing shelter data? Barbara Carr of the SPCA Serving Erie County in Buffalo, NY explains why she became a firm believer in revealing the good, bad and the ugly, and describes how transparency has helped her organization save more lives.  Read More

• And the Survey Says...Maddie's Shelter Medicine Survey Summary

  January 2011
  Findings from Maddie's survey on shelter health needs.  Read More

• Accountability Editorial

  2007
  Why standardized terms improve statistics and strengthen animal welfare.  Read More

• Why Transparency Editorial

  2006
  Transparency is a big plus even if an organization is less than perfect. When the public can see that an agency is improving, it enhances the organizations's reputation, builds community trust, and increases financial support.  Read More

• What is a Treatable Shelter Pet? Editorial

  2005
  The treatable designation need not require the shelters to provide the called-for treatment or rehabilitation. The idea is to put in writing what the shelters are aiming to achieve for the community's homeless pets.  Read More

• What Can Statistics Do For You?

  2004
  How to collect community data, keep statistics honest, avoid common mistakes, and much more.  Read More