Why don’t animal shelters collect data on reasons for euthanising animals?

Animal shelters in any country are potentially a great source of information about pet ownership.

A lot of companion animals pass through their doors; many of them leave their facilities the same way they arrived but many never leave except in a bin.

I’d like to know the reasons for euthanising the cats and dogs. I’d like a full account with detail. I don’t believe it would be so hard to collect that information.

It would be very useful information for local and national governments. It would shed light on companion animal ownership.

The information would tell us more about the impact declawing has on cat ownership and how many cats are abandoned because of it.

Being obliged to collect data would also improve animal welfare at shelters.

The information collected could be used to rank the success of animal shelters which would feed down to improved standards especially in relation to assessment of animal behaviour and health both of which are used to assess whether an animal lives or dies.

Is the reason why shelters don’t collect data because it might shed some unwanted light on the less attractive aspects of running an animal shelter?

This post is very short because it is being written on an iPhone as I’m currently on the move.

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Comments

Why don’t animal shelters collect data on reasons for euthanising animals? — 4 Comments

Dee (Florida) on August 8, 2014 at 6:09 pm said:
Wouldn’t we all love to see some stats?
I’ve tried for so long to get answers to so many things:
WHO determines who dies in any one day?
What criteria is in place that is applied to each animal that determines their fate?
Never an answer.
I believe that kill shelters don’t want to make public their stats because they want to present themselves as “wholesome” as opposed to the slaughter houses that they are. They want to disguise their real mission which is to decrease numbers. And, local government supports that.
They lie to communities, taxpayers are forced to pay for their “god complex” personae, and foolish, misinformed people trustingly relinquish their pets to them, not realizing that they will be killed.
So, the bottom line is that kill shelters will never collect or dissiminate any specific data whether helpful or not because they don’t want to be found out.
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- Michael Broad on August 8, 2014 at 8:59 pm said:
  Totally agree. The are not transparent. Even the best don’t provide full statistics. It just proves to me that shelters don’t really act in the best interests of cats in the long term. I say their existence can and does sometimes promote irresponsible cat ownership.
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Rudolph.A.Furtado on August 8, 2014 at 11:38 am said:
Michael this suggestion of yours is the need of the day as statistics could determine the reasons for “Pets” being abandoned and later euthanized at “PET SHELTERS”.Pet owners in America,Europe and most First World Country’s feel aghast when some country’s permit the slaughter of cats and dogs for human consumption but feel unmoved when millions of the same pets are slaughtered in “Pet Shelters”.By having a data base of owners abandoning pets at “Pet Shelters” the public can learn the reasons for abandonment of house pets to the pet animal death squad.Were the owners financially unable to care for their pets or the pets turned vicious once grown up and hence incompatible for house living with their human companions? Future “Pet Owners” can learn the reasons for “Pet Abandonment” and hence may never repeat the mistakes of irresponsible pet ownership.In my Country as there are no “Pet Shelters(Killer Shelters)” and hence its common for pet owners to abandon pedigree dogs on the roads,a life worse than death in a “Pet Shelter”.Strangely, i haven’t seen any pedigree cat abandoned on the streets nor read about the same, its dogs that are abandoned in Mumbai.
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- Michael Broad on August 8, 2014 at 11:52 am said:
  Pet owners in America,Europe and most First World Country’s feel aghast when some country’s permit the slaughter of cats and dogs for human consumption but feel unmoved when millions of the same pets are slaughtered in “Pet Shelters”
  I agree it is bizarre and very hypocritical of the West. Actually the mass slaughter of shelter cats is an American thing. In the UK we don’t do it.
  In many ways the Indian model is better than the American because at least you don’t deliberately kill 2-4 million healthy cats annually.
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