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A few days ago I sent a request for information regarding impound and disposition statistics from the Charlottesville, SPCA, an open-admission shelter that Nathan Winograd had recently consulted with.
I received a long response from its director, Suzzanne Kogut. Their live save rates and euthanasia rates are essentially the same as Winograd obtained in Tompkins County, namely a 92% save rate for both dogs and cats.
These statistics are required by the state and are posted on-line by the Virginia Department of Agriculture, so there is not much room for fudging.
She does tell me that the 2006 report has not yet been finalized, so I did not quote specific numbers.
Ms. Kogut states:
The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is an open-admission no-kill facility. We take in all animals brought in by the city and county animal control officers and the public as strays. We take in animals that owners desire to surrender although an appointment is required. We are the only facility that accepts homeless pets in the Charlottesville-Albemarle community.
We saved approximately 92% of all cats and dogs that came into our facility. With this save rate, we achieved our No Kill goal. By comparison, the overall save rate for animals in the Commonwealth of Virginia was 36% for dogs and 55% for cats.
We did not euthanize any animal for space but only if they had serious medical conditions, serious aggression issues or posed a public health and safety risk. These figures represent another successful year of lowering euthanasia rates.
Our dog euthanasia rate declined by 38% (from 13% in 2005 to 8% in 2006) and our cat euthanasia rate declined by an astounding 76%(from 33% in 2005 to 8% in 2006). Since 2004, our dog euthanasia rate has declined 53% and our cat euthanasia rate has declined 85%.
Kogut also stated:
We are a much smaller community (than LA), about 150,000 people population. Our Budget is $2 million, we take in 5,000 animals and have 48 employees (5 of which are part-time). I am sure Nathan has also told you to contact Philly as they have made progress, and San Fran's numbers from years past should be helpful. I was in DC for years, and have been to LA, so I know people are going to say you can not use Charlottesville as a comparison. However, I would just put our info out there with the past success of San Fran, the present success of Philly and then us and Tompkins county.
Please let me know is I can be of any additional help. Susanne M. KogutExecutive DirectorCharlottesville Albemarle SPCA434-973-5959 ext. 254
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There will always be complaints that you cannot compare a small shelter system to a large one. Why? The Charlottesville shelter is impounding animals at a higher rate per thousand people than LA and they are saving a lot higher number of animals per thousand as LA. LAAS consists of six and soon seven separate shelters and served shelter areas. Why cannot each be considered an autonomous services area and unit?
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