Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter Cheryl Schneider, Director

Williamson County Demographics

• Population 422,679 • 1,135 square miles • 69.1% growth from

2000 - 2010 • Mix of urban and rural • North of Travis County • 106,853 owned dogs • 120,548 owned cats • 46,390 community cats

WCRAS • Opened in March 07 • Open Admission • 15,000 square feet • Serves population of

416,800 • Collaboration between

County and the cities of Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander and Hutto

• 21 employees • Operated through a

Board and the County

In an open admission shelter, everyday is a trial!

Increasing intake Kitten season

Feral cats Big Dogs Budget

Staff

Increasing Intake Dogs Cats

2007-2008 2077 1387

2008-2009 3905 2036

2009-2010 3762 2607

2010-2011 4127 2707

2011-2012 4454 3020

Where do they come from?

We can’t control how they get here, but we can control how they leave.

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Historical Cat Intake

stray

owner surrender

born in shelter

transfer in

animal control

Owner Surrenders Need to Surrender Your Pet? Animal Shelters should be the last places of resort for dogs and cats – even the best of shelters can’t compare to a loving home. Although our vision is to save every healthy and behaviorally sound companion animal, this is a challenge since all animals are accepted from our jurisdiction regardless of health, age, species, breed or behavior. There are many community animals that may need shelter more than one that has a home already. We ask that you exhaust all options before deciding to bring a pet to the shelter. Do what you can to re-home your pet. Check with family, friends, co-workers and rescue organizations. http://pets.wilco.org/Services/SurrenderYourPet/tabid/3560/Default.aspx

Owner Surrenders Continued

Re-homing resources available: • Contact Local Rescue Groups. Groups can be found by doing a search on the Internet and by visiting Austin Animal Center's Rescue List. • Network your pet on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. • Use Local Classifieds, like Craigslist to find a new home for your pet. • Place a want ad in the local newspapers. • Visit Austin Pets Alive! PASS Program site. • Contact the Austin Humane Society. Surrendering a Pet to the shelter: If you are unable to re-home your pet after considerable effort, you can arrange to surrender your pet to the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter Follow these Steps: • Call the shelter or email the shelter at wcras@wilco.org to schedule an appointment. • Be prepared to take about 30 minutes while at the shelter to answer questions about your pet. This will assist us in placing him in the best home possible. • Bring your ID with address or other proof of residency in our jurisdiction and a $25 surrender fee. • Please bring all veterinarian and/or vaccination records.

Dog/Puppy Capacity

Designed - 54 • 22 Adoption • 15 Small Dog Room • 4 Quarantine • 13 Stray Hold

Current - 115

• Added 7 Outside Kennels and 3 Isolation Kennels, 8 small dog holding

• Paired up dogs in adoption

Cat/Kitten Intake

Designed - 112

• 30 Adoption Cages • 4 Bank Cage • 1 large cage • 8 9 bank cages (72) • 5 Bank cage

Quarantine

Current • 9 large roll-around • Decreased capacity in

9 bank kennels to 6 • Using as 6 bank –48

capacity • Using as 9 bank – 72

capacity

Dog Outcomes

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Historical Dog Outcomes

adopted

reclaimed

transferred

died

euthanized

Cat Outcomes

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07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12

Historical Cat Outcomes

adopted

reclaimed

transferred

died

euthanized

Keeping the Canines Healthy

• Walking and socialization by volunteers

• Toys • Music • Play Groups

Average Length of Stay Cats: 13.1 days Dogs: 9.8 days

Volunteers • Socialize cats and dogs • Assist staff • Special projects • Kitten Nanny’s • Off site events • Fundraisers • Office/Data Entry • Customer Service • Community Education • Cleaning

Adoptions

• #1 reason for increasing save rate • 244 cats adopted in 2007, 1753 in 2012 • 688 dogs adopted in 2007, 2493 in 2012 • Adoption fee $75.00

– Includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, worming, microchip, HW or FeLV test

• Promotions!! • Off-Site

Pictures and Videos

Celebrate Success!

Successful Adoptions!

Promotions

Birthday Promotions

Facebook

Fosters

234 foster homes

541 dogs/puppies

Reclaims Be proactive

• Craigslist • Other websites • Post pictures of

incoming animals on website

Waive fees if possible Offer Community service

hours if can’t pay fees Always have them come

in to look

Animal Control

Kitten Season!!!

Annual Intake

Keeping Felines Healthy Socialization

Brushing Playtime Fresh Air

Toys Scratching Pads

Fosters

236 homes 1,293 cats/kittens

Kitten Nanny Program

• Modeled after APA! Bottle baby program

• To decrease deaths in kittens

• To provide excellent care for kittens

• Volunteer based • Protocols and training

Feral (Free-Roaming) Cats

• TNR • Free Spay-Neuter

– Grants (sterilized 1008 cats/kittens through a 2-year, $48,000 PetSmart grant)

• Barn Cats

BIG DOGS!!

• Harder to adopt • Challenge to keep

behaviorally sound • Breed restrictions • Least room for • More behavior issues • Least likely to be pulled

by rescue

Kids - N- K9

Kids-N-K9 Big dogs, 98 adopted

Canine-Assisted Skills Training Group Williamson County Youth and Family Services Team

• Alternative to traditional skills training

• One morning a week, 3 case managers bring a group of kids to the shelter

• Provide training, exercise and socialization to the dogs that need it most

• In return, the dogs teach the kids valuable life lessons on coping skills, empathy, relationship building, problem solving and more.

Private Trainers

Budget Budgeted

Amount Revenue Expenditures Donations Donation

Expended

2007-2008 $1,001,845.00 $187,350.77 $974,865.66 $17,980.67 $578.00

2008-2009 $1,007,859.32 $178,714.58 $977,718.41 $27,673.96 $10,655.31

2009-2010 $1,035,782.00 $173,877.64 $1,010,835.19 $51,037.72 $24,542.31

2010-2011 $1,042,808.61 $188,153.42 $1,049,004.95 $92,801.25 $50,548.50

2011-2012 $1,121,905.94 $205,064.37 $1,166,319.18 $94,556.61 $69,059.34

What do you do when your budget isn’t enough?

• Donations – Jane’s Fund, Play Yard, Kuranda Beds, Wish list, HW

treatment • Volunteers

– Supplement staff • Fundraisers

– For specific projects • Innovative thinking

– Off site adoption – Interns

Projections and Statistics Year 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 Population 312,051 335,214 360,097 378,102 397,007 416,857 437,700 459,585 482,564 Cat Dog Intake/1000 21.35 17.72 18.63 18.07 18.83 Cat Intake/1000 8.84 6.07 7.24 7.16 7.61 Dog Intake/1000 12.51 11.65 10.45 10.92 11.22 Cost per capita 3.13 2.95 2.88 2.81 2.83 Euthanasia/1000 7.97 4.09 3.71 1.56 0.99 Dog Intake 3904 3941 3762 4127 4454 4744 4981 5230 5492 Cat Intake 2759 2154 2607 2707 3020 3056 3208 3369 3537 Dog/Cat Intake 6663 6095 6369 6834 7474 7800 8189 8599 9029

Transparent and Factual Budget planning

Strategic Planning Grants

Troubleshoot Improve

Identify Success

Customer Service

• Doggy Style – Not catty

• Donors, volunteers • Repeat customers • Give people the benefit

of the doubt

Being “No-Kill” is NOT easy!

It is like walking a tightrope EVERYDAY!

Euthanasia

• Have policies on when euthanasia is appropriate

• Have a checklist • Check and

double check

Opposition

• Traditional shelters • ACO’s • Rescue groups • Breed Haters • Staff • Government

Questions?

cschneider@wilco.org

Thank You!