The Million Cat Challenge: Diving deeper with Managed Admissions

What do these two things have in common?

Saints, jerks and canned goods

Food drive next week!

Bring canned goods to the booth on Tressider Plaza

Who gave?

Saints 8%Jerks 0%

Plan B

Food drive next week!Bring canned goods to the booth on Tressider

PlazaBeans would be great

Here is a map:

Saints 42%Jerks 25%

Who gave?

A jerk with a map can act just

like a saint

The current map in many places

TNR-town

Find-the-owner-land

Humane-deterrent-

burg

Rehome-your-own-ville

Finder-foster-world-o’-fun

Keep-that-cat-after-all-

zone

Shelter intake regardless of capacity for care or live

release

How can we redraw this map?• Increase the friction for

the un-desired behavior• Decrease the friction for

the desired behavior• Think cost, convenience,

timing, societal approval– What is easy, free, and

requires minimal planning or conversation right now?

– What do you most want people to do?

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Three principles of change

Shape the path!

Give people a chance to be their best selves

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A more balanced map

TNR-town

Find-the-owner-land

Humane-deterrent-

burg

Rehome-your-own-

ville

Finder-foster-world-o’-fun Keep-that-

cat-after-all-zone

Shelter intake for those that really need it

I should know better, right?

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Dr. Hurley got her path shaped!

Managed Admission• Any form of regulating intake to

match resources:– Closing night drop boxes– Limiting field pickups– Strategic hours or days– Intake fees– Waiting list– Scheduled appointments

• Not limited intake, but tends to decrease #s by shaping a different path

• Combine with alternatives to intake resources

What would this mean to you and your staff?

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According to a report by The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, all

these mentioned life goodies were topped by the biggest life goodie of them all: "autonomy" - defined as "the feeling

that your life - its activities and habits -- are self-

chosen and self-endorsed."

What would this mean to you and your staff?

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• Allow your staff to predict and plan their days

• Make choices that balance the needs of all parties

• Create an opportunity for sharing of responsibility with the community

Thinking outside the drop box

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• Protect animal health• Collect accurate information to

speed animal to right outcome– 40% owned pets per ASPCA

research• Facilitate conversations and

education• Foundation for any other form

of managed admission• Install signage providing

options for found animals and advising of laws on abandonment

http://www.aspcapro.org/webinar/2013-11-14/beyond-box-closing-after-hours-drop-boxes

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

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3500

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4500

Effect of night drop closure on intake (closed 4/2008)Yolo County Animal Services, Woodland, CA

Intake non-ND Night drop intake

Shaping the path

Closed April 2008

783 fewer cats per year on average after vs before

No evidence of more harm

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

Effect of night drop closure on intake and DOA pickup (closed 4/2008)

Yolo County Animal Services, Woodland, CA

Intake non-ND Night drop intake DOA intake

Closed April 2008

Autonomy feels betterAs of December 31st, 2014 we closed down our outdoor after hours drop off cages. The city manager and I presented shelter information and data regarding everything that has been going on, changing, and upgrades to the shelter, and animal care over the past few years. That includes our Euthanasia rates.

In 2011, we euthanized 730 animals. In 2014, we only euthanized 132, or 14% of our total live animal intake for the year. We had about a 40% decrease in numbers from January 2014 to January 2015. What’s funny, is it is quiet, and I can breathe now. It is a very strange sensation.

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Cora C., City of Kenai Animal Shelter

Where else is your low-hanging fruit?

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Where is your low-hanging fruit?

23Euthanasia by intake route and type

Shape the path

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“As of August, 2011, the shelter no longer provides field services for picking up a trapped or confined stray cat”

Results

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Intake down 33%

2,000 fewer intakes = ?

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2,000 fewer intakes =

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Euthanasia down 64%

Dear Million Cat Challenge...How do you know the cats

aren’t just ending up at another nearby shelter?

Community wide trend

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Community-wide euthanasia down ~ 25% for 2012

Fees for cat intake

30http://www.maricopa.gov/pets/services.aspx

Which path is being shaped?

Fees for cat intake

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Fees for cat intake• Balance fees for strays and

surrenders to avoid encouraging misrepresentation

• Empower staff to use judgement in waiving fees

• Provide lower cost alternatives, ideally including spay/neuter/vax

• Use fees to support expanded prevention programs

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Cost and accountabilityWe found that making people responsible for actions has been a huge success. When someone doesn’t want a nuisance cat returned to the field they are obligated to sign a statement that they are requesting the cat be euthanized rather than returned and they have to pay a fee for that service. This leads nearly everyone away from that outcome because they want the simple and free solution – which in our case is sterilization and return. 90% of the time those same cats are not an issue and we never see the people come back.

Scott Trebatoski, Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center, Tampa, FL

Intake hours• Consider your mission• Schedule intake to

support live outcomes• Limit overlap with

prime adoption times• Coordinate with

services to move animals through safely and quickly

Path problemAt one point weekend surrenders were so bad that we had the majority of our staff fielding surrenders and only one or two staff available to do adoptions. The wait time for adoptions got so long that adopters would get annoyed and leave without an animal. Also, I would say that the burn out rate for staff was much higher because there just simply was no break in surrenders.

35Michael Keiley, MSPCA, Boston, MA

SwitchIt felt like night and day when we stopped taking surrenders in on the weekends – we were able to complete so many more adoptions and focus on getting animals out the door so during the week we had more room to take them in! We didn’t receive much push back at all and would make exceptions for those who couldn’t make it in during the week when needed.

36Bryn Rogers, MSPCA, Boston, MA

Win, win, win…

The weekends also became more fun, and more importanly less stressful, for staff because they got to focus on adoptions and not rush through them to get to a surrender. Also, the adopters were more comfortable/happier.

37Michael Keiley, MSPCA, Boston, MA

…win…We will still get (a very few) random people looking to surrender their pet on a Sat or Sun, and we will explain why we are not open for surrenders on the weekends. I think the biggest benefit is that it explains to people (who have maybe not thought about it before) exactly what we do and how adoptions are not a “given”. I think whenever we can get people to consider just what we’re doing day in and day out, we’re educating them in a way.

38Katie Armour, MSPCA, Boston, MA

…and one more win

Also we were able to reallocate staff to accommodate adding on a sixth day of surgery and open up public spay/neuter programs for cats and dogs on Saturdays, which were much more convenient for the public....and ultimately those s/n clinics in turn drove our intake numbers down.

39Michael Keiley, MSPCA, Boston, MA

Waiting list/appointment based intake

• Handle strays and owner surrenders similarly if possible

• From simple waiting list to specific appointment times

• From web-based resources to extensive counseling

• 3-5 days wait may help regardless

• Empower staff to make exceptions http://

www.maddiesfund.org/assets/documents/Institute/Cats%20by%20Appointment%20Only%20Waitlist%20Guide.pdf

Clearly communicate new policy• Service oriented – client

and animal• Staff and volunteers• Local stakeholders• News and social media• Talking points for staff• Website• Signage with options and

info on abandonment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rWf6IJVzBg

Simple waiting list• As needed or ongoing• Place to start or all you need• Animal care and intake

communicate daily about capacity

• When at capacity, animals go on wait list

• Call back as capacity opens up– Free ride for strays may help

• Alts to In in the meantime

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Biggest surprise about implementing a waiting list

How easy it was, and how fast my population of cats went down, as a result!! I had a garage full of cats stacked on top of each other...all being treated for URI...and within a month, my garage was empty, and the URI in the shelter was under control.

Lori Brizius, Harbor Humane, West Olive, MI

Can YOU do this? I took a short vacation the summer after expo and I was sitting on a beach with a friend describing your presentation and managed admissions. I said wistfully how I wanted to do that at SSHS so badly but we just couldn't. And he said, "why?" And I responded that our community would just freak out. He said but if it's the right thing to do for the pets and for the community, you can convince them.

44Emily Klehm, South Suburban Humane Society, Chicago Heights, IL

One step at a time So I set about approaching it proactively. I brainstormed every possible complaint from volunteers, donors, and the community at-large. I researched other managed admissions facilities. I put together a power point about the philosophy of managed admissions. I presented it first to our full staff, then to our volunteer base, and then we held an open community meeting. We posted our statement of why we were transitioning on our website, to our 8,000 email list, on Facebook, and on a poster in our lobby. I believe an important part of the communication was also that I told our constituents that if managed admissions was a spectacular failure after one year, we would re-evaluate it. And overall, I was completely shocked about the community's positive response.

45Emily Klehm, South Suburban Humane Society, Chicago Heights, IL

One step at a time With walk-ins now, we assess them on an as-needed basis. My front office staff/adoptions counselor and my intake staff handle the communications with the intake staff handling all of the prevention conversations. If the finder says anything dangerous i.e. "well I'm just going to dump them" we take them right away. Although this is not a scientific figure, I would estimate that 90% of the general public has no idea how at-risk cats/kittens are for death in the shelter environment. When we can take the time to explain that holding on to this cat will save its life, it helps the finder feel like a hero.

46Emily Klehm, South Suburban Humane Society, Chicago Heights, IL

WOWThe impact is indeed dramatic. We transitioned October 1, 2014. During calendar year 2015, for the first time in our 45-year history, we had zero euthanasias for space and only 6 for purely age related reasons. Our cat adoption rate went from 990 to 1,342 and our save rate went from 52% to 82% for felines.

47Emily Klehm, South Suburban Humane Society, Chicago Heights, IL

Win, win, win, winOther impacts are definitely as I mentioned, the health of our population which translates to lower drug costs and faster adoptions. As for staff sanity, I can't speak enough about how it changed our world. To be completely honest, I was nearly emotionally exhausted and so was my beloved Intake team. We were burnt out. Just the idea of the transition gave us all a reason to hold on and then when we started seeing results, we all have a newfound vigor for our work. I recently presented our annual report to our volunteers and they were literally crying tears of joy at what we've accomplished.

48Emily Klehm, South Suburban Humane Society, Chicago Heights, IL

Dear Million Cat Challenge...Do you bring cats in from the

waiting list on a first come/first serve basis or

some other strategy?

Strategic intake• Bump fast trackers to the

front of the line– Prioritize kittens while they’re

cute!• Allow most LOS for slow

trackers to take place outside shelter

• Offer Alts to In while waiting– SNK: Spay/Neuter/Keep– Research non-shelter options

e.g. straight to rescue

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Dear Million Cat Challenge...We’d love to offer spay/neuter and

other services for cats on the waiting list, but we’re not a wealthy

organization. How do you suggest we pay for that?

Funny Money• Last year 317 people kept their

cats when we offered to sterilize them. In each case we asked for a donation for that service. On average people donate $62.14.

• Adoption of an adult cat has topped out at $40 on average, $22 less than if we sterilize and give back.

• With an average LOS of 17 days, clearly, sterilizing and returning from the waiting list is the way to go.

Barbara Carr, Erie SPCA, Buffalo, NY

Surrender Fees

• The average dollar amount given by a person from the waiting list when surrendering a cat is $35.00

• The average dollar amount given by a person that just shows up with a cat and we agree to take it is $5.00!

Barbara Carr, Erie SPCA, Buffalo, NY

Want to try this at home? Hi Dr. Hurley, About a year ago, or coinciding with the 5-webinar MCC series – whenever that was, last spring?... We transitioned to managed intake system to try and help alleviate the strain on our surgical department. We couldn’t keep up with surgeries, so both dog and cat holding were full with animals just waiting for s/n or dental and adoptions was under “stocked”. Things were really backed up and I was overwhelmed. All of the things we realize come along with increased LOS and overcrowding where happening… chronic URI, stress, behavior issues, slower adoption rates, etc.

Emily Purvis, Auburn Valley Humane Society, Auburn, WA

Trouble in paradise

Our first attempt was just to create a waiting list. We were even turning away strays or putting them on the waiting list. This worked well to slow down the influx, but what we found was we never truly knew how long the waiting list was because so many people would find another option. We also didn’t know what kind of behavioral needs dogs or cats would have or even if they would need surgery which was our bottleneck resource.

Emily Purvis, Auburn Valley Humane Society, Auburn, WA

Solution: the Pre-intake Exam

• Set # of exam appointments daily at convenient time for intake staff

• ~ 3 days from date of call– 60% no shows

• Medical (behavioral) eval– Fast track, healthy and altered → intake for adoption– Slow track/need surgery → vaccinate, home to wait until

space in surgery schedule/shelter– Pet brought back on appointment day fasted and ready

for surgery

Success!

This has worked really well, because our list is never artificially long. If they make their pre-intake appointment they generally show up for their actual intake appointment. Most of the time they arrive at 9am, receive surgery, recover in holding, move to adoptions the next day. If they’re adorable, they go home that day, so LOS of 1.5-2 days… and this does happen pretty frequently.

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Dear Million Cat Challengers and friends…

How do you tell clients that they must make an

appointment to surrender their pet? Is there specific wording or key phrases?

Two different perspectives• There are no scripts, no phrases that we use. Each

situation is different and we will often provide services to those having a difficult time keeping the cats for a while. That resulted last year in over 400 cats being kept by owners. – Barbara Carr, Erie SPCA

• I agree that we handle each situation individually but we do have procedures documented to help facilitate the conversation. - Kathie Johnson, Animal Humane Society

Talking points• I’m sure you really don’t want harm to come to this animal. That you came

to (SHELTER NAME) for help shows you do care about what happens to your pet.

• We do want to help you and your pet, but we need your cooperation by making an appointment.

• Please re-consider our offer to schedule an appointment. • I recognize that you came here today expecting to drop off your pet right

now. I’ve explained how our animals surrender process works. Do you want to move forward with scheduling an appointment or would you prefer to explore other options and resources? I can provide you with some information on re-homing your pet if you’d prefer to go elsewhere.

• What action you take at this point is up to you. We want to work with you but letting the animal go (or threatening to kill it) doesn’t allow us to help you.

Ask your community members for their best selves

My tip is DO NOT BE AFRAID TO OFFER THESE LIFE SAVING METHODS TO YOUR COUNTY/COMMUNITY!! It will not only surprise you, but give you great hope when you realize that once you educate your County administrators and/or community on the benefits of these methods, they will more than likely see it in a positive way.

Lori Brizius, Harbor Humane, West Olive, MI

Take that leap!

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More questions for the Million Cat Challenge?

???http://www.millioncatchallenge.org/resources/dear-million-cat-challenge#cat3 Info@millioncatchallenge.org

#ThanksToMaddie

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