Athens Clarke County Animal Control Review

Best Friends Animal Society provides customized reviews and support for individual animal shelters and the communities they serve. Selected organizations receive on-site observations followed by a report that identifies specific opportunities for programming and effective lifesaving. Support is offered and available to ensure that new programs and practices are sustainable and successful. Best Friends Animal Society uses a collaborative approach to each shelter partnership and believes that every shelter should have the opportunity to determine its own organizational needs based on lifesaving impact in that community. As a rule, we avoid a “one size fits all” approach because, just like every individual animal, each shelter and its community has its own individual personality and needs. From April 30 through May 2, 2019, representatives from Best Friends Animal Society and Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement did a three-day review of shelter operations at Athens-Clarke County Animal Control. This report includes the findings and recommendations based on the observations. Areas where improvement is needed are highlighted and followed by Best Friends’ recommendations. Recommendations are based upon proven and successful policies and programs, as well as studies, research and fact-based practices.

Defining the opportunity

Athens Clarke County recently named former supervisor Michelle Carrigg to the animal control administrator position. Together with her team, Michelle is ready to make changes to the policies and procedures at the shelter to allow for additional lifesaving. Over the years, the shelter has succeeded in improving their public image and reducing the euthanasia of animals but there are still changes that need to be made. With the dedicated team of animal care professionals currently employed at the shelter, we have no doubt that Athens-Clarke County Animal Control can achieve no-kill status by following the recommendations in this assessment and working with Best Friends.

Demographic information

The median household income in Athens-Clarke County is $33,060 and 37.8% of residents live below the poverty line. Athens-Clarke County Animal Control serves about 124,000 residents, covering 121 square miles. With an operating budget of $704,443, the county spends $5.70 per capita on animal control services. This is lower than counties of similar size in Georgia, such as Carroll ($6.24 per resident), Coweta ($7.70 per resident) and Lowndes ($6.85 per resident).

Shelter data

In 2018, Athens-Clarke County Animal Control took in 1,276 dogs and 849 cats for a total live intake of 2,125. The 2018 overall save rate for dogs and cats was 84%. With a 91% save rate for dogs and 74% for cats, Athens-Clarke County has reached the national benchmark for no-kill status for dogs but needs to bring the cat save rate up to reach that status shelter-wide.

2018 Intake Species 2018 Non-Live Outcome Species

118 849 35% 40% 1276 217 60% 65%

Dog Cat Dog Cat

The charts above show that although cats only account for 40% of the intake, they make up 65% of the euthanasia. Cats are being euthanized at a rate disproportionate to their intake. The immediate focus should be on increasing lifesaving efforts for cats specifically.

Accolades

Before diving into specific recommendations, it is only appropriate to highlight several aspects of Athens-Clarke County Animal Control and staff for work that is going notably well and can serve as a model for other communities.

1. Everyone — from the shelter staff to the county leadership — believes in doing everything possible to save the animals. There is already a strong culture of lifesaving in Athens-Clarke County.

2. The volunteer program has been embraced by the county and lots of individuals in the community are interested in helping the pets at the shelter.

3. The shelter is set up well, with indoor/outdoor dog runs that are not overcrowded and some cat cages that include portals. There are ample play yards for the dogs.

4. The county is not routinely euthanizing outdoor cats and is able to partner with Athenspets and Campus Cats to divert outdoor cat complaints or return community cats to the locations where they were trapped.

5. The shelter director, with the support of the county, believes in changing policies and procedures to allow for more lifesaving.

6. Athens-Clarke County Animal Control has a strong partnership with Athenspets, who provides them with funding for medical treatments and medications and offers free spay/neuter for the public.

7. The shelter, including kennels, laundry and storage areas, is very clean and organized.

8. The shelter has good relationships with rescue groups and can quickly find placement for many of their hard-to-adopt animals.

9. Shelter leadership has already embraced a handful of sheltering best practices (spot- cleaning cat cages portals between cat cages, not listing breed labels, etc.).

Review and recommendations

Ordinance revisions

The current Athens-Clarke County ordinances restrict lifesaving by mandating the adoption fee, restricting outdoor cats to registered colonies and not providing local cruelty definitions. We recommend that the following updates be made:

• The ordinances allow free-roaming cats, but require them to be part of a registered colony and the requirements for registration are restrictive. Section 4-1-26 (Requirements for Care of Feral Cat Colonies) and Section 4-1-29 (Disposition of Feral Cats, Generally) should be removed. In addition, the definition of “feral cat colony caretaker” needs to be updated to “a person who provides sustenance, water and care for a feral cat colony,” removing the language about registered colonies.

• The current stray hold period for dogs and cats is five open days. With Sunday and Wednesday not counting, animals are held for seven days. The return-to-owner rate for cats is less than 2%, so the cats are being held for seven days on the very slim chance that an owner may come for them. This is a waste of resources and space. Also, if outdoor cats are sterilized and returned to where they were found, the ones who are owned will simply go home, increasing reunifications. Most stray dogs are reclaimed within 72 hours. The stray hold should be eliminated for cats and litters of puppies and reduced to 72 hours for adult dogs. If the shelter’s hours are changed to allow the public in on Sundays and Wednesdays, this will significantly decrease the amount of time stray dogs are held.

• The statute mandating the adoption fee should be removed. The power to determine adoption fees should lie with the shelter administrator.

Community cats

Currently, citizens can rent a trap from the county and bring in any trapped cat to the shelter. If a registered colony is nearby, the cats are returned to their outdoor homes. If no colony is nearby, the cats may be eligible for the Lucky Cat Barn Cat program, managed by Athenspets, or if the cats are not friendly enough for adoption, they are euthanized. Since the largest opportunity for lifesaving centers around cats, ramping up and altering this program should be a top priority for the shelter.

Although funds have been available for years, Athens-Clarke County just recently started promoting the free spay/neuter available to outdoor cats. Once the registered caregiver restriction is eliminated, this program should be widely marketed as an alternative to intake of community cats.

In situations when the complainant is not feeding the cats or is not interested in bringing the cats in for surgery, counseling complainants on ways to mitigate nuisance behavior and keep the cats off their property should be offered. If healthy outdoor cats are impounded, they should be sterilized and returned to their outdoor homes whenever possible. Barn cat placement should be reserved for situations in which the cats are unable to be returned safely to their original home or for fractious, previously indoor cats.

Recommendations:

• Train field officers, intake and dispatch staff on outdoor cat complaint mitigation and the use of deterrents. Best Friends can offer in-person training and also has these resources: video on deterrents and Solutions to Cat Related Issues.

• Continue to expand the community cat program. These programs are now the norm for animal shelters. Although they can be unpopular with a few residents, they are more effective and cheaper than trapping and euthanizing cats. Best Friends has a comprehensive resource to guide the shelter through the process of expanding to a full- scale community cat program.

Budget The per capita budget for Athens-Clarke County Animal Control is currently $5.70, which is lower than other counties in Georgia of similar size:

County Budget Population Dollar/resident Clarke $ 704,443 123,554 $ 5.70 Carroll $ 716,900 114,898 $ 6.24 Coweta $ 1,062,548 138,015 $ 7.70 Lowndes $ 780,425 113,941 $ 6.85 Douglas $ 1,490,268 140,152 $ 10.63 Average $ 950,916.80 126,112 $ 7.42

The shelter budget provided by the county is not enough to cover medical treatment or supplies for the animals, which is a basic need to protect herd health, provide basic quality of life for the animals and allow a safe work environment for employees.

To provide the animals with medical treatment, the budget is currently being supplemented by the nonprofit group Athenspets, which directly pays for heartworm treatment, in-house medical supplies, some medical cases and more. Although this type of high-level partnership and resource utilization is admirable, the shelter budget should be expanded to include medical treatment of common diseases, such as heartworm, upper respiratory infections and demodectic mange. If the partnership with Athenspets ended unexpectedly, the animals would be without medications and treatment. To reduce the reliance on an outside partner and ensure basic quality of life, these expenses should be covered by the county.

If there is an especially complicated medical case (an animal hit by a car, excessive cruelty, etc.) that requires hospitalization or specialized care, this could be a situation when Athenspets steps in with additional medical treatment resources to allow the pet to recover.

Adoption program

Athens-Clarke County Animal Control expressed a desire to change the perception of the animal shelter in the community and create a positive image for the shelter. One way to do that is to eliminate the restrictive adoption policies that are currently putting up barriers between the shelter and the community. By visiting the shelter, prospective adopters have already made the right choice — they’ve decided to adopt. Forcing them to prove that they are good enough to save an animal can result in a negative perception of the shelter.

The adoption application currently being used by the shelter is invasive, requiring a Social Security number and driver's license number, details about prospective adopters’ living situation and current resident animals’ vaccinations. The shelter also requires applicants to provide proof of landlord authorization to have pets if their residence is a rental.

We recommend an open adoptions policy. The term “open adoption” is often misunderstood to mean simply handing pets over to anyone who wants them. In fact, instituting an open adoptions policy means focusing on setting proper expectations and giving guidance to adopters about each pet whom they are interested in, while reducing barriers to adoption. The adoption counselor may ask prospective adopters to fill out a brief survey (instead of a rigorous application) or forego paper altogether and start a conversation about adoption and encourage open communication. This non-judgmental approach encourages all types of people in the community to adopt animals from shelters and rescue groups, rather than acquiring them from other sources.

It is important to have conversations with adopters to ensure that their questions are answered and that they are a good fit for the animal they are adopting. If an adopter is not truthful with the adoption staff and the animal comes back to the shelter, that is an opportunity to learn more about how the pet behaves in the home and, if possible, find an animal who is a better fit for the family.

The current process at Athens-Clarke County requires the applicant to wait 24 hours after being approved to adopt before being allowed to take the animal home, giving the adopter time to think and refrain from making a quick decision. Allowing animals to be taken home the same day that they are adopted will free up space at the shelter and remove barriers between the shelter and the community. If the adopters do return the animal, it should not be viewed as negative. Any time spent out of the shelter and in a home setting is a positive thing for the animal and will also provide greater insight into that animal’s personality when he/she is out of the shelter environment.

Currently, the staff allows any potential adopter to roam freely throughout the shelter without having any staff interaction. Once they locate an animal they are interested in, they must find a staff member. We suggest utilizing volunteers as adoption counselors who can greet prospective adopters at the door, assist in completing the adoption survey or start the adoption conversation, and attempt to pair the adopters with animals who match their desired traits in a pet. In addition, the current kennel cards provide very minimal details about the animals, and some cage cards say “Not available for adoption” or “Don’t touch” for various reasons. This is misleading to potential adopters. If adoption counselors are available to speak with visitors, they can explain what the restriction on the cage card means (e.g., the animal is still on stray hold or has an application pending).

The current adoption fee for all animals is $50, as mandated by an ordinance. Athenspets subsidizes half of some long-term cats’ adoption fees, allowing them to be adopted for $25. Fee-waived adoptions have proven to be a successful way to move hard-to-place animals through the shelter quickly without sacrificing the quality of adoptions. Research shows that people who pay less to adopt their animals are no less connected to them than those who pay more.

Recommendations:

• Update the adoption application and policies to encourage open conversations. Examples can be found here: Dog Adoption Survey, Cat Adoption Survey .

• The shelter is open the same number of hours for adoption and owner surrenders, and both are conducted in the lobby. Ideally, adoptions would have a lobby separate from intake, but we did not identify a space to allow for this, so we recommend adjusting the hours so that owner surrenders and adoptions are not occurring at the same time. The hours should be set up in a way that limits intake and encourages adoption. In addition, the adoption hours are not conducive for citizens who work a 9-5 schedule, as the shelter closes at 4 p.m. daily during the week. We encourage Athens-Clarke County to extend adoption hours into a few evenings a week, with the ultimate goal of being open for adoptions every night of the week and open to the public for adoptions on Wednesdays and Sundays.

• Once the ordinances are updated, we recommend that adoption fees be eliminated for long-term or hard-to-place animals (adult cats, heartworm-positive dogs, etc.) and that the shelter run adoption specials from time to time, borrowing creative ideas from successful campaigns from other shelters, such as the APA Adoption Center’s recent campaign. Relying on revenue from adoption fees is an antiquated practice. The agency will never recuperate the amount of money spent on the care and housing of an animal via those fees, and higher fees result in longer length of stay, which results in higher costs for care.

• We recommend hosting super adoption events or off-site adoptions, to allow the shelter to engage more with the community.

• Other recommended resources include Adopters Welcome Manual, Open Adoptions and Humane Network’s comprehensive 10-step guide to establishing a “culture of adoption.” Also, see the Humane Animal Control manual, Appendix I: Adoption Programs.

Field operations

Overall, the field services that Athens-Clarke County Animal Control (ACCAC) offers are adequate, but we recommend a few minor changes regarding intake and lifesaving efforts.

Earlier we mentioned that ACCAC hopes to achieve a more positive image of the shelter in the community; officers in the field are going to be the number-one catalyst for that change in public perception. Field officers are front-line soldiers, so to speak, so they have more face-to-face interaction with community members than anyone else on staff. They must be the driving force in this culture shift that must take place internally.

We recommend that field officers study and attend trainings that focus on being a resource to those in need rather than strictly enforcers of regulations. Officers can offer folks who may be in violation of an ordinance a solution to the problem so that it does not reoccur, rather than punishing them for the infraction. Here’s an example: A field officer notices a dog without adequate shelter. Rather than impounding that animal and costing the organization resources, the officer could arrange to provide adequate shelter for the animal and educate the owner about the need for proper shelter. The organization not only saves resources and keeps intake numbers down, the problem is corrected and the officer has had a positive interaction with that individual, which may lead to more positive interactions in the future. It is a win-win for all parties involved.

Along the same lines of the culture shift mentioned, spay/neuter should be offered by officers whenever possible. Right now, it is mandated in the Athens-Clarke County animal ordinances that a spay or neuter is required after a second violation of any kind. Instead, this service should be offered freely. If ACCAC or a partner organization, such as Athenspets, is going to pay for the service anyway after two violations, why not offer this service positively on the front end rather than require it as a punitive measure on the back end?

Marketing and communication

The portion of the Athens-Clarke County website dedicated to animal control is sparse and the only way to view available animals is an outdated PDF list (text only) of animals. There are no social media pages managed by the county.

Athenspets’ website has pages dedicated to the available dogs and cats, including photos and descriptions of each pet. If this information cannot be displayed in a similar way on the county’s website, a link should be added to the Athenspets site so people can view pets’ photos and descriptions. The addition of more comprehensive software can automate the process of uploading available animals’ photos and profiles to the website.

Athenspets’ Facebook page promotes animals for adoption or rescue. This is a great way to get the word out and the page has a high number of followers. Athenspets also manages the Petfinder page for the shelter. Press releases or positive storytelling is minimal and should be ramped up to promote adoptions and share positive stories about the shelter.

Including “Animal Control” in ACCAC’s name implies an entity that handles the control of animals, which is partially true. The part of the organization that exists on Buddy Christian Way is the animal shelter, however, and it might be clearer to the public if the name reflected that. Some options that other counties have used include Animal Shelter, Animal Services, or Animal Care and Adoption.

Signage to the shelter is also minimal. The only sign is in the shape of a stop sign, and it’s not inviting to the public. Nothing on the signage indicates that pets are available for adoption, so this is a missed opportunity to engage drive-by traffic.

We recommend implementing a focused marketing strategy to engage the entire community in achieving and sustaining a high save rate. Marketing efforts need to contain calls to action to give citizens tangible ways to get involved in achieving their community’s no-kill status.

Recommendations:

• Join the Maddie’s Pet Forum to have access to prerecorded webinars from public relations and marketing experts, along with the ability to connect with others around the nation.

• Read the Best Friends resource on media relations for animal organizations.

• Engage shelter staff in providing positive, accurate content for the press and the website.

• Identify market segments in the county and work with the county’s communications and outreach coordinator to sketch out basic strategies.

• Consider a social media strategy that does not rely on an outside nonprofit.

• Add simple signage to the road, saying something like “Adopt today,” to indicate that there are pets available for adoption.

• Consider changing the department name to be more inclusive of adoptions.

Software and data entry

ACCAC currently uses a server-based system that was developed by the previous director. The internet at the shelter is unreliable, so a server-based system must be used. The process is cumbersome, however, and the software does not allow for remote access or automatic website uploads. The staff spend much of their time navigating this software system. Implementing a software system that is intended for animal shelter use will free up time and promote adoptions through automatic website and Petfinder uploads. Also, a new software system can automatically generate kennel cards, which can replace the handwritten and poorly designed kennel cards being used currently.

Recommendations:

• Continue to work with the county’s IT department to resolve internet issues at the shelter.

• Implement a software system commercially available for animal shelters. Research on shelter software can be found in the Shelter Software Guide.

Staff and culture

Shelter staff are all on board with doing everything possible to save animals. They do not take euthanasia lightly and obviously form strong bonds with certain animals. Leadership has successfully created a culture of lifesaving, which is a huge accomplishment.

There are five part-time kennel staff, one staff member at the front desk and a kennel supervisor. Leadership is unable to fill all the part-time positions, so typically at least one is open. This results in insufficient staffing in the kennel. If the five part-time positions were converted to two full-time and one part-time position, the pool of interested candidates would increase and staff would be more consistent across shifts.

Inmates are also used to supplement shelter staff. During our time there, inmates were observed improperly cleaning. Inmates should be given the same training and oversight as the rest of the kennel staff.

Recommendations:

• Convert the five part-time positions to two full-time positions and one part-time position.

• Provide additional training to the inmates on cleaning protocols.

Housing and care

The dogs are placed in double-sided kennels with a guillotine door between. One of the sides is outdoors and the other is inside a building with a hallway between the rows. The dog population is maintained so that each dog has two sides and can be moved between the two during their time at the shelter. Adopters walk outdoors to see the dogs. The dogs are fed twice per day and given Kongs and bones to play with in their runs.

The adoptable cats are housed in cages in one large room. There are two exercise/visitation rooms and one colony room that permanently houses a group of cats. A handful of cat cages have portals between them. It was noted that the shyest cats are placed in the middle cages so they can be socialized. All cats had toys.

During times when the cat population is low, the two socialization rooms could be converted to temporary colony rooms to house the cats who get along. This would reduce the stress of the cats housed in cages and decrease upper respiratory disease.

Feral or fractious cats were housed separately and given a feral den to hide in, or had their cages covered by a blanket. Feral dens are never used in the adoption room, but one adoptable cat who was hiding behind a bed could have benefitted from access to a feral den.

The signage in the cat area needs a complete overhaul. There is a whiteboard that has the cats listed in categories. One cat, Shelly, was listed as having been there the longest, as if to highlight her to adopters, but she was also listed in the “don’t touch these cats” category, which seems contradictory. It is good to draw attention to the long-term residents, but advising adopters not to touch would immediately turn them off. One cat had a sign that said, “Do Not Handle Me Today,” which is another immediate turn-off to adopters. This particular cat got overstimulated around other cats and had a tendency to act out. Instead of instructing adopters not to handle her, the sign could say something about checking with staff first or the cat having special needs.

Recommendations:

• Use feral dens for all fearful cats, regardless of location. These enclosures allow cats to feel like they are securely hidden and allow staff to clean their cages more safely and thoroughly.

• Add portals to all cat cages.

• Replace the “Do Not Handle” signs and whiteboard category with signs saying “Check with Staff First” or “I’m scared today; ask a staff member to introduce us.” Sanitation

The cats cages are spot-cleaned each day and the entire cage is only cleaned if the cat is no longer in that cage or if there is a huge mess. This is ideal because it preserves the cat’s scent in the cage and decreases stress. Trifectant is used to clean the cat cages.

Regarding dogs, almost everyone to whom we spoke reported a different cleaning protocol, involving some combination of bleach, a sanitizer (Pine 6) and a degreaser (BH-38). Since Trifectant is likely ineffective against ringworm, bleach is ineffective after coming into contact with organic material (i.e., fecal matter), and the sanitizer and degreasers are not proven to be effective against parvovirus, we recommend switching to an accelerated hydrogen peroxide cleaner that can be used universally, such as Rescue Accel.

At the end of our first day there, we took a few minutes to walk around the kennels. We observed that almost half of the kennels were dirty with urine, feces or both. It was reported that spot-checking the kennels throughout the day is the job of the inmates, but it appears that they are not following through. Dirty cages are unsanitary for both people and dogs, and could turn potential adopters off to certain animals or to the shelter as a whole.

Recommendations:

• Establish a cleaning protocol for each area and ensure that all staff, volunteers and inmates are trained to use it and are held accountable to keep it up.

• Switch from using several different cleaners with varying levels of efficacy to using one effective cleaner, such as Rescue Accel.

• Ensure that the dogs’ kennels are being cleaned throughout the day.

Medical care

Every dog is given a DHPP and bordetella vaccine on intake whenever possible. Cats are given FVRCP if they are friendly enough. These vaccines are covered by the county’s budget.

Athenspets purchases doxycycline, dewormer and other medications to treat the animals during their time at the shelter.

Adoptable animals receive surgery at Athens Area Humane Society. Athenspets subsidizes some of these costs so that animals can receive surgery quickly. Animals should be added to the schedule and receive surgery as soon as they are deemed eligible for adoption so that they can leave quickly.

The officers transport the animals to and from surgery, although they do not believe they should be doing so. Volunteers could be utilized for these transports to allow officers to stay on the road and focus on their calls for service.

Dogs are tested for heartworms on intake and, if positive, they’re started on treatment. The dogs are able to be adopted during their treatment period but are housed in quarantine. With the understanding that animals recover better in a home setting, those dogs should be placed on the adoption floor with the goal of finding them a home in which to recover. Precautions could be put in place to ensure that their activity level remains low.

The shelter operates under a local veterinarian’s license, but there is currently no vet on staff or contracted to oversee the medical treatment of animals. Athenspets currently pays for the animals to see an outside vet for routine things (skin conditions, URI, etc.). Contracting with a vet to come in once a week to walk through the shelter, look at non-emergent medical cases and be on call to answer questions will likely decrease outside vet costs and decrease disease outbreaks.

All cats are tested for FIV or FeLV prior to adoption or rescue. If they are positive for FIV, they are still eligible for adoption, but FeLV cats must find rescue placement. The policy on FeLV cats should be updated to be as progressive as the FIV policy. Currently, a policy is in place requiring the testing of all adoptable cats for FeLV and FIV, which is costing the agency a considerable amount of money in terms of the cost of the tests and staff time required to perform the tests. The Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) takes a relatively firm stance in favor of testing but does allow for resource restrictions regarding pre-adoption testing.

The Best Friends medical director agrees that, ideally, in any cohousing situation, cats should be tested for FeLV due to the horizontal nature of transmission, but resource availability must also be considered in this decision. Knowing the prevalence of FeLV/FIV in the population would certainly help ascertain whether testing should be performed. We recommend analyzing historical testing data to ascertain the prevalence of FIV/FeLV in adoptable cats and if it is low, discontinuing the testing of all cats prior to them being placed up for adoption, and offering to perform this test to adopters for a fee if they are interested. We have Best Friends Network partners who have studied the prevalence in their populations over time and discontinued the testing of all cats because of the high cost and very low percentage of positive results. We can connect ACCAC staff directly with them to discuss in more detail.

Because of the mode of transmission of FIV (bite wounds), cohousing FIV-positive and FIV- negative cats is acceptable (with or without testing), provided that the cats are spayed or neutered and monitored to ensure there is no fighting or aggression.

Recommendations: • Develop a budget that allows for the purchase of basic medical supplies, to be kept in- house.

• Promote dogs for adoption during heartworm treatment.

• Investigate using volunteers to transport animals to and from surgery.

• Look into partnering with a contract vet to oversee some shelter medicine treatment.

• Research the pros and cons of combo testing.

Behavior and enrichment

The robust volunteer program allows most of the dogs to get human interaction throughout the day. There are several fenced outdoor spaces available for volunteers to take dogs off leash and during our time there, several volunteers were seen coming and going with dogs. There is a whiteboard in the front lobby listing each dog, any volunteer observations about the dog, and when they were walked each day.

Each dog was given Kong toys and bones to play with in their kennels, but they were not given any blankets to lie on. The outdoor runs had toys that the volunteers were using to stimulate the dogs.

The cats were given toys in their kennels and the volunteers were rotating the cats in cages into the visitation rooms for exercise. There was a copy of the Humane Animal Control manual’s appendix on cat enrichment in the cat room, but we didn’t see many of the recommendations (e.g., using scent enrichment, playing with them with light toys and teaching the cats tricks) being implemented.

The basic enrichment needs of the dogs and cats are being met, but with the strong volunteer presence, there is an opportunity to expand the current enrichment program.

Allowing the dogs time to play with a human each day is important, but modern shelters are allowing the dogs to play with each other. Benefits of dog play groups include:

• Play groups allow dogs in shelters (an atypical environment) to exhibit normal behaviors.

• Dogs expend more energy playing with each other than they do playing with a volunteer. • Compared to basic behavior testing, play groups allow staff and volunteers to learn more about the way a dog interacts with other dogs. Resources for learning more about play groups include Dogs Playing for Life and neighboring Gwinnett County, which started play groups earlier this year and could be a mentor for implementing them at ACCAC.

Additional links to resources to assist with providing enrichment: • Enrichment for shelter dogs

• Kennel enrichment

• Enrichment on a Dime (webinar)

• Enrichment for shelter cats

• Hiding places for cats

• Best Friends Animal Society’s Humane Animal Control manual, chapter on shelter cat enrichment

• Best Friends Animal Society’s Humane Animal Control manual, chapter on shelter dog enrichment Intake

Currently, the shelter accepts owner surrenders anytime it is open, and even on days that it’s not, making it easier to surrender an animal than it is to adopt one, and both occur in the same lobby. The shelter should be more focused on getting animals out rather than taking them in.

On Wednesday (when the shelter is closed), someone came to surrender a dog and the door was unlocked and she was welcomed in to drop off her dog. This particular surrender was due to behavior issues and some effort was made by staff to discuss the possibility of training. The owner was in tears and clearly had a deep connection to her dog. This would have been a perfect opportunity to offer basic behavior modification advice and to set an appointment for surrender in two weeks, once the owner had had the opportunity to try the behavior modification tips suggested.

We recommend implementing a managed intake program, which refers to any form of regulating or scheduling intake. Managed intake can be thought of as controlling the “how” and “when” of intake, but not necessarily the “who.” This is a cornerstone best practice that will give Athens- Clarke County Animal Control the ability to implement other best practices to fully support their community and achieve no-kill status.

More information can be found in Best Friends Animal Society’s Humane Animal Control manual in the chapters on intake diversion and delayed or diverted intake.

Recommendations:

• The staff currently offer food if a citizen needs it to retain an animal, but intake staff need more resources to offer the public to increase owner retention. Resources should include Adopt a Pet flyers to encourage owners to find a new home for the pet themselves (so the pet doesn’t have to enter the shelter), materials to assist with behavior issues, and supplies such as leashes and collars, which can be acquired via donations. Other resources, such as medical care, can be obtained through working with Athenspets and local veterinarians to offer services at a reduced cost and/or offering some of those services in-house at the shelter. By offering resources and limiting the hours for intake, overall intake at the shelter will be drastically reduced and more animals will remain with their families.

• We recommend shoring up resources for educating the public on what to do when they find a stray. With the size of the service area, impounding a stray animal and bringing him to the shelter is often an impediment to the animal getting home. However, we have trained the public to do this, so we need to retrain them and encourage community members to help stray animals find their way home without bringing them to the shelter. Ways to do this include posting the animal’s photo on social media, driving around the area where the animal was found and asking folks in the area, and having the pet scanned for a microchip at a local animal hospital.

• Client service staff in intake need to be empowered to be transparent with individuals relinquishing animals to the shelter. The drop-off forms need to be updated to include a box for individuals to check off if they want to be notified if their animal is in danger of being euthanized. This will drive home the fact that euthanasia is a potential outcome, in addition to the staff saying it’s a possibility. A system needs to be implemented to ensure that if that box is checked, the previous owner will be notified and given the option to reclaim the animal free of charge.

• Immediately after intake, animals’ profiles should be posted on the website for viewing by the public, whether the pet is an owner surrender immediately available for adoption or a stray. In addition, having a lost-and-found section on the website, which pet owners can search to see if their animal is in the shelter, is critical to increasing the return-to-owner rate and reducing euthanasia.

Community engagement

Having accessible and low-cost spay/neuter available is a key component of building a no-kill community. Athens Area Humane Society offers low-cost surgeries to the public and any Clarke County resident who cannot afford to have their pet fixed can engage with Athenspets for a free surgery. The pets do not need to be impounded to qualify. However, by county ordinance, all animals are required to be sterilized prior to being reclaimed the second time. This surgery is again done at no cost to the citizen, thanks to Athenspets.

Athenspets is currently spending most of their time and resources on the shelter (purchasing medications, coordinating rescues, etc.). If the previous recommendations to bring those resources in-house are implemented, Athenspets would like to focus on community engagement.

A comprehensive community engagement program includes door-to-door outreach to the neighborhoods with the highest intake. This outreach centers around building trust in the community, offering resources and encouraging citizens to spay or neuter their pets. Once a few members of the community trust the outreach organization, word travels fast and people embrace sterilizing their pets.

The mandatory spay/neuter after the second reclaim requirement may be successful in sterilizing pets who might have remained intact otherwise. However, impounding animals who can be returned to their owners in the field as a way to force the owners to sterilize their pets is not the right option. This will decrease trust in animal control in the community, which is key to reaching the demographics with the highest intakes. When officers are trusted in the community they serve, residents are more apt to provide valuable information, collaborate with officers to solve neighborhood problems and increase their overall compliance rate for violations.

Throughout our visit, we were introduced and exposed to countless volunteers who assist the organization in many different ways. We highly recommend implementing an outreach model similar to the Humane Society of the United States’ Pets for Life program. We recommend that ACCAC work on training staff to help shift the focus of the organization from intakes to outcomes. The volunteer base can be utilized to set up outreach events or an open house at the shelter, where residents can come and receive free or reduced-cost services and supplies (vaccines, pet food, pet housing, leashes and collars, toys, etc.). This not only promotes the shelter as a resource and a solution rather than a punitive enforcement entity, it allows ACCAC to connect with citizens and find out where the problems truly lie within the community. More information on the Pets for Life program and training can be found here: Pets for Life Community Outreach Toolkit.

As mentioned above, Athenspets plays a huge role in assisting the organization. During our visit, we asked many times what would happen if Athenspets walked away, and the answers were alarming. Keeping them involved and willing to assist is paramount. We believe, however, that their efforts can be directed in more successful ways, such as the services and events mentioned above. The focus of Athenspets should be outreach and advocacy for the organization, and they can work hand-in-hand with the volunteers on those efforts. With Athenspets’ financial support and the shelter’s data on which areas need the most help or generate the most intakes, ACCAC could develop programming that would have a huge positive impact.

Recommendations:

• We encourage giving staff, especially field officers, the opportunity to attend neighborhood meetings and other events that allow them to engage with residents outside of responding to calls.

• We encourage the shelter to hold vaccination clinics regularly throughout the year and to continue to provide dog and cat food to anyone who requests it during normal business hours.

Resources: • Best Friends Animal Society’s Humane Animal Control manual has a comprehensive chapter on community outreach and engagement that can be found here and an appendix dedicated to community engagement strategies.

• The Humane Society of the United States has a thorough guidebook, Pets for Life, that’s available for download on their website and is considered a valuable resource.

Foster program

Whenever possible, animals who cannot go up for adoption should be transferred to rescue. However, when that is not a possibility, we recommend having a foster program for dogs and cats to temporarily house animals struggling from behavior or medical conditions preventing adoption.

Athens-Clarke County Animal Control is just starting to manage a foster program for cats but does not have a program for dogs. Great candidates for a foster program include underage kittens, dogs undergoing heartworm treatment, and nursing or pregnant moms.

Foster families should be empowered to adopt the animals directly into new homes, rather than returning them to the shelter for adoption. The Adoption Ambassador program is a great resource. We also encourage the shelter to consider other creative fostering ideas, such as recruiting businesses to foster pets.

Here are some resources to assist with implementing this vital program:

• Best Friends foster resource

• Best Friends Animal Society’s Humane Animal Control manual, chapter on foster programs

Volunteer program

Athens-Clarke County Animal Shelter has a robust volunteer program with an experienced and dedicated coordinator. During our time there, many volunteers were coming and going to walk dogs and interact with the cats.

There is currently a color category system in place to identify the needs of the dogs available for adoption. Pink dogs can be walked by any volunteers, green dogs are a little more difficult to handle and can be walked by volunteers who have already volunteered for 10-15 hours, and blue dogs are the most difficult to walk and can only be handled by volunteers with the most experience. These color-coding systems are a great way for volunteers to feel comfortable with the dogs they are interacting with. We suggest switching to providing training on dog body language for the volunteers interested in advancing to handling more difficult dogs, instead of basing their advancement on number of hours worked. Hours worked is not always a reflection of experience and knowledge. Although the volunteer program is well developed, there is still room to engage volunteers in a higher and more comprehensive way with things like foster programming, events, transports, PR and rescue coordination.

Recommendations:

• Look into offering trainings for the volunteers to advance them from color to color. We have samples of these trainings that have been sent to the volunteer coordinator.

• Send out a survey to volunteers asking them what changes they might like to see to the program. Use the survey as an opportunity to take an inventory of volunteers’ skills and interests so that volunteers can be assigned to the appropriate areas (e.g., rescues, transports, PR).

Resources:

• Best Friends volunteer resource

• Additional Best Friends volunteer resources can be found here

• Best Friends Animal Society’s Humane Animal Control manual, chapter on volunteer programs

Training

There is currently no budget for staff training. Officers are required to complete NACA’s A and B trainings in their first year of employment, but without the budget to cover this, compliance is low. One kennel staff member was sent to HSUS’s Animal Sheltering Expo this year and came back energized after his experience.

Conferences and trainings are a great opportunity to stay up to speed on the work being done around the country and can be a nice break for staff. We recommend implementing a mandatory number of CE hours per year for officers and kennel staff and ensuring that leadership provides opportunities well beyond that number of hours. This can include participating in local and national conferences, nationally recognized training academies, free webinars and other online training.

Although budget for travel may be minimal, there are many online resources and webinars available at no cost that should be explored as a training option for staff. Maddie’s Fund webinars are one example. Also, Athens-Clarke County Animal Control is a member of the Georgia Coalition of Hope, which means they have access to animal welfare professionals across the state for mentorship and advice.

Recommendations:

• We recommend hosting monthly all-staff meetings to go over data and view and discuss a webinar on a particular topic.

• Encourage staff to join state and national trade associations to stay up to date on training opportunities: o National Animal Care and Control Association o Georgia Animal Control Association

Additional resources

We highly recommend that ACCAC join the Best Friends Network. Best Friends Animal Society firmly believes that collaboration with local animal shelters and rescue organizations — the people who know their communities best — is key to saving the lives of dogs, cats and other pets in America’s shelters. The Best Friends Network, comprising thousands of public and private shelters, rescue groups, spay/neuter organizations and other animal welfare groups across all 50 states, is at the heart of the collaborative spirit that helps define Best Friends.

We believe that each shelter and the community it serves have their own individual personality, just like animals in the shelter’s care. And because of that, each shelter deserves support and resources designed to address its specific lifesaving needs. Joining the network is free and comes with benefits, such as access to a variety of professional resources and mentorship opportunities to achieve organizational goals and increase lifesaving impact. A few select organizations, which have a significant and measurable impact on reducing deaths in shelters in their communities, may qualify for special grants.

We recommend that Athens-Clarke County Animal Control join the Best Friends Network to gain access to all the benefits and to be eligible for support to fully implement the above recommendations. To join the network, visit network.bestfriends.org.

Here are a few technology resources that we suggest ACCAC use in its shelter operations:

• Gap Analysis Tool: This self-service tool was built for organizations to enter their data and see recommendations for lifesaving programs based on their organization's specific needs.

• Rehome by Adopt-a-Pet: This resource helps keep pets from being surrendered to shelters by connecting pets to millions of interested adopters to help them find new homes.

• Doobert: This is a transport platform for local rides, high-volume transports and rescue relays. Doobert allows organizations to set up transports and connect with receiving or sourcing organizations.

• Best Friends Vet Access: This mobile app connects users immediately with a veterinarian via phone or video call to save trips to the vet. Access is free for Best Friends Network partners and new users receive the first 30 days free.

• ResQwalk: This free mobile app lets users raise money and resources for their favorite organizations.

• Waggle: Waggle is the only pet-dedicated, crowdfunding platform that partners directly with leading veterinary providers to reduce economic euthanasia, thereby presenting options to pet owners and second chances to the pets they love.

• Pet Peace of Mind: This website enriches the quality of life and well-being of hospice and palliative care patients by providing a national support network to help care for the pets they love.

Conclusion

Athens-Clarke County Animal Control should be proud of the work they have done in recent years to save more pets under their new leadership. A few small tweaks will help the shelter achieve and sustain no-kill and become a model animal welfare community within the state. Best Friends is committed to helping shelters across the nation improve their shelter operations for the safety and well-being of the animals in their care, and we will remain available to assist in achieving this goal in Athens-Clarke County.

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About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 2,600 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from 17 million per year to about 800,000. That means there are still nearly 2,200 dogs and cats killed every day in shelters, just because they don’t have safe places to call home. We are determined to bring the country to no-kill by the year 2025. Working collaboratively with shelters, rescue groups, other organizations and you, we will end the killing and Save Them All. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.