2020

ANIMAL SHELTER REPORT

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Aimee Bourey, Tyla Robinson, Katherine Montalvo Dr. Christy Blackburn 01

TABLE OF CONTENTS

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y 0 2

I N T R O D U C T I O N 0 3

H I S T O R Y 0 4

D E F I N I N G N O - K I L L 0 5

O N E H E A L T H 0 6

P R O G R A M S T O 0 7 T R A N S I T I O N

B ARCC 0 9

S W O T 1 1

E C O N O M I C C O N T E X T & 1 3 M E A S U R I N G O U T C O M E S

C O N C L U S I O N 1 6

M E E T T H E T E A M 1 7

R E F E R E N C E S 1 8 02

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Since the inception of animal humane societies, the advocacy for have come into conflict with the operation of animal shelters in the reality of animal . The successful implementation of No-Kill (NK) policies in a municipal animal shelter is reliant upon a number of internal and external forces. Internal forces are actionable items from within the animal shelter that can impact outcomes for animals and shelter functions. External forces consist of programs for the public and the implementation of support networks through fostering programs, stores, and other community groups.

Internally, the Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center (BARCC) is currently acting on practices seen in No-Kill Shelters (NKS) across the country, making it an ideal candidate for transition. Identifying these practices and indicators of their success will build the best foundations for the transition process. 03

INTRODUCTION

A human’s role in animal control has been a long debate from all sides in America starting with the first American Society for the Prevention of was founded in 1866. This prompted the discussion of whether or not it was for the animal’s benefit to kill in overpopulated areas. Over time, a movement in the animal rights community started called the no-kill movement. Their stance was that it is a human’s responsibility to keep them alive and death should be an option only when that animal is suffering. There are already two No-Kill states in America, Delaware and New Hampshire thanks to the Companion Animal Protection Act with Florida pushing that way as well. In Texas, Austin is the first No-Kill city with the help of the same shelter reform law. So, How can shelters who don’t have legislation to help them reform their euthanization practices? This report will discuss the difference between a Kill and No- kill shelter, programs that were beneficial for the transition, and equations to use from an economic standpoint.

Municipal animal shelters across the world This report is intended to provide an have been working towards more humane overview of the history and reasoning treatment of animals. Included in this behind NKS, as well as give concrete movement is the transition to using No Kill examples of what other animal shelters (NK) practices in shelters. The City of have done to make this transition. BARCC is capable of transitioning to a No- Kill Shelter (NKS) given that Concerns The table of contents above is meant to surrounding NKS come from three main allow for ease of navigation in this areas: community and animal health, document. financial feasibility, and shelter capacity. In this report, we discuss the history of

NKS and common practices used by these shelters to ensure the safety of animals. THIS REPORT IS MEANT TO ACT AS A REFERENCE INTO Further, we discuss the programs present THE NO-KILL MOVEMENT AND currently in the Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center and ways that these BROWNSVILLE ANIMAL programs translate to a new model. REGULATION AND CARE CENTER. 04

HISTORY OF NO-KILL

In America, the movement for the humane treatment of animals started in 1866 when the first American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in New York City by Henry Bergh. This came at the same time that the first law was passed to protect farm and work animals. Bergh believed in eradicating the unethical treatment of animals and wanted nothing to do with regulating animal population control. The concerns surrounding animal welfare and animal overpopulation have since played a central role in the development and operation of NKS. This decision was the opposite of what Bergh advocated for: that humans were responsible for the regulation of the animal population.

Despite Bergh’s desire to distance himself from animal population control regulation, the issues of overpopulation remained. Left unchecked, animal overpopulation can result in the spread of disease, and in urban areas, this can further spread to humans. An animal rights activist named Phyllis Wright, published an article titled “Why Must We Euthanize?” in 1978, proposing that euthanasia was actually in-line with the humane treatment of animals, and in fact, could be a blessing to suffering animals. This started the public’s interest in human responsibility in pet overpopulation. Furthermore, the essay prompted animal shelters around to begin the practice of putting animals to sleep.

Despite this, the ASPCA eventually discontinued the policy to euthanize animals in their shelters. Wright’s philosophy sets the tone for how the animal population is legally regulated in America. As with anything, there were those who didn’t fully support the stance of killing animals for overpopulation or any other reason called the No-Kill movement. San Francisco is widely known as the first city to popularize the no-kill movement after a story of two street went viral. This sparked a movement among the American population that the choice to choose whether an animal lives or dies is not for humans to decide. 05

DEFINING NO-KILL

90% The save rate at No-Kill shelters must be maintained at 90%.

However, these shelters that convert to

no-kill (NK) have a misleading title. In

definition, the only difference between a regular shelter and a NKS is that NKS always maintains a 90% save rate, and

euthanasia must only be used on the

premise that the animal will no longer be suffering or if the animal is deemed a danger to society by law. Kill shelters can

euthanize for any a broader set of

reasons, such as overpopulation in the shelter, temperament problems, or even for simply being unwanted. and have no Today, shelters across the country have minimum save rate. adopted NK practices.

One of the primary reasons for maintaining kill-shelter policies are to combat animal overpopulation. Animal overpopulation can result in health risks not only to both owned and stray animals, but humans as well. This falls under the idea of One Health, which promotes that animal, human, and environmental health are inextricably tied.

These issues impact communities with large numbers of free-roaming owned animals as well as those with an abundance of stray animals. In order to improve One Health outcomes in a successful NKS, holistic programs are needed. 07

PROGRAMS TO TRANSITION

There are two major types of programs that ease shelter transitions into NKS: connecting and counteracting. Connecting programs work to bring animal welfare groups and the public together through advocacy and education. Shelters should build a relationship with their surrounding community for continuous adoptions and credibility for lasting education efforts. Counteracting programs work to decrease the number of animals coming into the shelter. These efforts in tandem combat animal overpopulation, making it possible to sustainably transition to NK.

Programs to increase community knowledge and awareness of the shelter’s role and animal welfare create long-lasting benefits for the shelter as a whole. Widespread public knowledge of the importance of sterilization, which may decrease numbers of strays, or the misconceptions around certain breeds, like pit bulls, are great strategies to keep intake numbers down at shelters. This kind of advocacy can be done through social media campaigns and adoption events. Further, partnerships with rescue groups and an in-house foster program can improve outcomes for both sick and healthy animals. Sick or injured animals have lower recovery rates inside shelters, and can easily spread diseases, such as kennel cough, to their neighbors. Connecting through building good practices in the community and connecting to strategic partners lay the foundation for successful NKS. 08

PROGRAMS CONTINUED

BARCC must also decrease the number of animals entering the shelter through counteracting programs. The Brownsville community has a high population of free-range dogs and cats, building a community animal sterilization program, including trap, neuter, and release (TNR) practices, will help protect the health and overpopulation of strays and feral cats. Not only will having a strong TNR program decrease the stray population, having reduced spay and neuter costs for low-income families will encourage families to sterilize their . Furthermore, mitigating behavioral issues associated with intact animals could further decrease the number of animals entering shelters based on aggressive behavior.

Another counteracting measure is decreasing the number of animals returned to shelters. Improvements must be made with returning lost animals to their owners by microchipping and having an accessible website for owners to find lost pets. Improvements should also be made with increasing the retention rate of adopted animals in homes. Common reasons for animals to be returned to shelters include unexpected costs, destructive behavior, disobedience, barking, aggression, human health issues, and hyperactivity. Some shelters found to be beneficial to tell owners before adopting the cost associated with animals as pets and to incorporate behavior training programs.

Lastly, having a committed team is important for any of these programs to work. Having to constantly hire staff puts a strain on the shelter because costs associated with having to recruit and train due to loss of knowledgeable staff. A group of researchers found that shelters that had high rates of euthanasia also had a low retention rate of staff. The trend of high staff turnover was linked with euthanasia decisions based on other reasons that weren’t related to the health and behavior of that animal. Workplace practices that lowered the turnover rate were having a designated room for killing that was away from other animals and a policy of removing dead animals before another procedure was performed 09

BROWNSVILLE ANIMAL REGULATION AND CARE CENTER

The Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center already has many beneficial features commonly used in transitioning to no-kill, such as adoption events, an advisory committee, a part-time veterinarian, social media platforms, and volunteer programs. However, the addition of a foster program could be of great use when dealing with lack of space for excess animals. This could also increase adoption rates and spread awareness for volunteering opportunities. As of now, a test run has been initiated with the public funding their own fostered pets. So far, it has been very successful and there is a positive outlook for this program’s expansion in the future. Possible setbacks could be figuring out the financial responsibility of these animals if the public cannot do so. A vital quality of the shelter is a deep care for animals and a community with people who are willing to help. Utilizing these strengths are critical throughout the process of transitioning to NKS.

BARCC has been progressively improving in marketing to the public through social media. They have implemented pets of the week, promotions, and showcases which have increased interest in adoptions. This could be further implemented by improving their social media and website. These platforms should have more information on the animals available and those picked up by animal control. An enhanced virtual experience for the public could help increase adoptions and bring public awareness.

One aspect of the BARCC that can be considered changing is its overall image by rebranding and making it more modern. As of now, renovations are being done which will create a positive impact and may bring more attention from the public. The next possible steps are announcing it to the public.

Since public awareness is vital to the welfare of BARCC, the relationship towards the public needs to be improved. A suggestion to this issue may be the need of a publicist. The shelter does currently have a coordinator for events like these and reaches out to the public which has been successful, however by shifting to a main focus on the publicity of the animals and the shelter itself, it can make a large difference in community involvement. An improvement in public relations can help handle the advertisements of the animals and any opportunities or job offers for the shelter. Donations and volunteers are also important contributions when it comes to an animal shelter who is transitioning to NK. Overall, BARCC could be closer to transitioning to NK if the social infrastructure were to be improved by enhancing its qualities and possibly implementing new programs.

A SWOT analysis is a tool used to

evaluate the internal and external strengths and weaknesses contributing

STRENGTHS to a process. In this case, the SWOT How can you expand or analysis was conducted not only to build S protect these our understanding of your goals for and characteristics? struggles with the BARCC, but to facilitate a forward-thinking process that

WEAKNESSES will assist you in evaluating decisions How can you mitigate these moving forward. W factors? A SWOT analysis was completed with

the research team and members of the OPPORTUNITIES BARCC advisory, BPHD, and workers How can you capitalize on from the animal shelter. The purpose of O these opportunities? this exercise was to find areas of

improvement and activities to take

advantage of before continuing to move

THREATS towards a no-kill status. In our What can be done to discussions, your team was able to T prevent or isolate these identify key players, obstacles, and threats? strengths that contribute to this transition. 12

SWOT

Motivated and passionate Community engagement staff and awareness is low Inviting Atmosphere Public image is outdated Staff takes initiative Finding employees that are towards efforts that improve the right-fit takes time the shelter

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

Collaboration with Shelter funding is reliant community is strong on the local government (donations, foster system) Community relies on New social media shelter for owner- engagement requested euthanasia Higher adoption rates services 13

ECONOMIC CONTEXT AND MEASURING OUTCOMES

Economic context is critical for evaluating feasibility and sustainability in decision making. Animal Shelters, in general, must recognize that general decision making comes from two sides, taking both internal and external factors into account. Internal decisions, like that decision to switch to an NKS, must have some follow up with managing external factors, like spay and neuter programs, strategic partnerships, and public animal welfare education. Lowering the impact of external factors facilitates the allocation of shelter funds towards a decreased number of sheltered animals, improving outcomes. In this section we will discuss the measurement of such outcomes and their economic context.

The Asilomar Accords of 2004 were an attempt at standardizing animal welfare definitions and metrics across the board for improved comparison of data on the national level. The ultimate goal of the accords was to reduce the rate of euthanasia in adoptable animals in the United States, however, these accords remain controversial, with some signers of the accord refraining from using some definitions. For the BARCC, taking note of the metrics of the system in place and documenting changes will allow for a measure of animal welfare outcomes that can compare to other animal shelters. Key measurements include intake, adoptions, return-to-owner, transfers, euthanasia, and owner-requested euthanasia. 14

While these indicators promote uniform definitions for animal welfare statistics, the Asilomar Accords fail to establish economic indicators in animal shelters. One model that can be used by policymakers to understand and track relationships contributing to expenses is the input, output, throughput approach (IPO) model. To utilize this, the basic classes of animals entering the shelter, the input, are mapped over the costs associated with them. These classes include stray and previously owned dogs and cats, which may have different medical and social needs upon entering a shelter. The throughput costs come in three main categories: daily, medical, and unassociated. Daily costs accumulate per day and range from litter to toys to food and water. Medical costs are typically upfront for each animal, including sterilization, evaluations, vaccinations, etc. however, these costs also include euthanasia and disposal. Unassociated costs are costs that, to some degree, are not dependent on the inputs. These include staff and facility operation costs. These are simply ideas of throughput costs and are by no means meant to be a comprehensive list. Outputs, then, are the end result of the animal’s time in the shelter. Five general outputs are: return to owner, adoption, transfer, return to field, or euthanasia. It is important to note that each output will generate different throughput costs as well, such as an animal that is sterilized and released will not incur the same costs as an animal held the minimum days before euthanasia.

The model must shift when considering the impact of opening this system to external forces. The figure below, from a University of Arkansas dissertation titled Kittenomics: Modeling Economics and Outcomes in the Municipal Animal Shelter, outlines a process followed left to right for most shelter animals.

Inputs Throughputs Outputs

Stray Cats Minimum holding time Returned to Owner Owned Cats (cost per day) Adopted Stray Dogs Sterilization Transferred Owned Dogs Minor medical Returned to field Evaluation Euthanized Adoption Staff Euthanasia Disposal Misc. 15 Generalized Model of Major Forces

Regional Nearby Finite Policies Agencies Resources

City, county, and Policies at nearby Funding and state laws can animal welfare partnerships are impact inputs agencies (such as limited, creating (increase or limiting admissions) competition decrease) and may impact the between shelters alter the inputs of other and other animal opportunities for nearby shelters. welfare agencies. various output types.

In making the decision to change to an NKS, the IPO Model can be used to map changes in expenditures. Understanding and anticipating external forces and how they might improve or impact the outcomes of the shelter in this switch can further improve outcomes. 16

CONCLUSION

All in all, the implementation of no-kill shelters has been achieved across the country for the past 36 years. Several reasons for euthanasia has been overpopulation, illness, temperament, and more. Considering the health of the public, animals, and the environment, the reasons for implementing this are to prevent spread of illnesses while at the same time maintaining biodiversity. Ways to help transition to a no-kill shelter should have power in connecting to the public as well as counteracting the number of animals that go through the shelter. This can be done by implementing certain programs that allow for community involvement while still maintaining low costs and return rates. The Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center has a framework that can successfully transition into a no-kill shelter. There needs to be several improvements however on their public relations as well as continuing their use of programs. 17

MEET THE TEAM

AImee Bourey graduated from Texas A&M University with her Bachelor's in Biochemistry and Genetics. in 2019. She is currently working as an intern for the Food and Agriculture Organization, researching water scarcity and the One Water One Health initiative. Most importantly she loves her , a Great Pyrenees named Toph.

Tyla Robinson is a senior Animal Science major with a minor in Public Health. She inspires to work in clinical research, earn her MPH, and contribute to society by working for the government. This is her first major research assignment outside of the classroom and has learned some invaluable experience from it that has influenced her career choices once she has graduated.

Katherine Montalvo is a native of Brownsville studying for her bachelor’s in Biomedical Science as well as minoring in Spanish. She has had experience in this shelter and seeks to improve the public health of her hometown. She inspires to become a physician’s assistant and serve the valley. This is also her first major research and wants to use this experience to come into contact with more health specialists in Brownsville.

Dr. Blackburn received her PhD in 2015 from Washington State University as part of the Individual Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program She is currently the Deputy Director of the Pandemic and Biosecurity Program at the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M, conducting research on various aspects of pandemic disease policy and control.

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