The infographic spells out the numbers and they come from reliable sources but I am almost compelled to conclude that they are misleading. If not something dramatically good has happened for shelter cats in the USA. Perhaps shelter management are taking up Nathan Winograd’s advice in greater numbers. He has been pressing the shelters with great persistence for years to get them to show more imagination in minimising shelter euthanasia rates. He feels that a lot more can be done to reduce the numbers and perhaps they are being reduced by good management.
The dog euthanasia rate has also gone down by relatively by a small amount compared to cats. The infographic also contains the information that there has been a higher intake of cats and dogs at US shelters which appears to be a post-Covid reaction to adoptions or purchases that should not have been made during the pandemic and would not have occurred but for the pandemic leaving people at home alone with nothing to do. Some of these companion animals have now been surrendered to shelters as their owners understand the responsibilities and they’ve returned to work.
I’d like Nathan Winograd to comment on the numbers in this infographic. Although I don’t suppose that it will happen.
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Some ways for an animal shelter to minimise the euthanasia rate of cats
It requires a multifaceted approach focusing on several key areas.
Adoption programs: these should be effective which would include marketing and outreach efforts. It would also include hosting adoption events and partnering with local organisations or businesses. And thirdly it would include using social media platforms to publicise the need for them to be adopted i.e. advertise their presence in the shelter.
Foster care network: adopting a robust foster care network providing temporary homes for cats is a good way to minimise euthanasia rates. It helps to alleviate overcrowding within the shelter. It also helps to give the cats time at the foster carer’s home to receive individualised care, rehabilitation and socialisation if required. All these factors enhance the possibility of the cat being adopted rather than euthanised.
Behaviour and enrichment programs: the shelter should do all they can to improve the behaviour of cats in their charge by investing in behaviour and enrichment programs to tackle behavioural issues which in turn makes them more adoptable. Reducing stress in the shelter can help as it helps with improving behaviour while in a stressful environment. That is where foster caring also comes in to play as mentioned above.
Education and community outreach: this program would be employed to prevent people relinquishing their cats to shelters and it includes educating people about their responsibilities in cat caregiving and it would include discussing the need to spay and neuter cats. This can be done through organised seminars and workshops which will also raise awareness of the importance to adopt cats from rescue centres rather than purchase purebred cats and to improve cat welfare.
Partnerships and rescue groups: the point here is for the shelter to collaborate with rescue organisations and other groups to increase the prospects of cats being adopted and rehomed. They are often part of a wider network which therefore expands the possibilities of adoption and rehoming.
Low-cost spay/neuter programs: the idea here is to get more cat owners to sterilise their cats to reduce the general cat population in the community which in turn reduces the number of cats relinquished to animal shelters.
Medical and wellness initiatives: the point here is to improve the health of the cats at the shelter which can be done through making the environment as good as possible which in turn can be achieved by ensuring the cages are as big as possible and that they have some time outside of the cage in a communal area (happy shelter cats – includes petting and speaking to them). It would also include regular veterinary care, vaccinations and proper disease control. Contagious diseases can spread very rapidly in shelters such as something as innocuous as ringworm. There are more serious diseases which can spread rapidly and be fatal.
Volunteer and staff training: best practices should be employed in training and ensuring that volunteers and staff used the correct, modern handling and caring techniques. Ongoing education should be provided ideally to ensure that staff have the most up-to-date skills and knowledge.
Positive public image: this concerns ensuring that the shelter itself has a good and welcoming public image through actively engaging with the community and sharing success stories for example. The idea here is to attract more potential adopters.
Data analysis and continuous improvement: this is a job for management to ensure that the information at hand is regularly analysed including adoption and euthanasia rates to identify trends and areas that need to be improved. Strategies can be refined.
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