| Situated in central Virginia, Albemarle County contains the city of Charlottesville and several smaller towns. Albemarle County has about 90% the population and 80% the per-capita income of Arlington County. Probably because it’s much larger geographically, (726 square miles vs. 26 square miles), Albemarle County has many more homeless dogs and cats than Arlington County.
Like AWLA, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is a private non-profit animal welfare organization that operates an open-admission animal shelter and provides animal control services under contract with the county. Let’s compare animal outcomes for AWLA and CASPCA. AWLA numbers are for FY2009 (ending 6/30/09) and the CASPCA numbers are for CY2008. | ||||
| Dogs | Cats | Total | ||
| Total Intake | ||||
| AWLA | 755 | 1,262 | 2,017 | |
| CASPCA | 1,785 | 2,647 | 4,432 | |
| Adoptions | ||||
| AWLA | 315 | 765 | 1,080 | |
| CASPCA | 1,062 | 2,037 | 3,099 | |
| Transfer to Rescue Orgs | ||||
| AWLA | 15 | 3 | 18 | |
| CASPCA | 95 | 57 | 152 | |
| Euthanized | ||||
| AWLA | 141 | 356 | 497 | |
| CASPCA | 135 | 369 | 504 | |
| Died or Lost in Shelter Care | ||||
| AWLA | 7 | 21 | 28 | |
| CASPCA | 11 | 122 | 133 | |
| Live Release Rate | ||||
| AWLA | 80.3% | 68.8% | 73.2% | |
| CASPCA | 86.7% | 79.4% | 82.3% | |
| Both AWLA and CASPCA return hundreds of stray dogs and cats to their owners each year, and these “lost-and-found” pets count toward the organizations’ “Live Release Rates”. While the lost-and-found numbers reflect a valuable service for pet owners, they also obscure the outcome statistics for homeless dogs and cats brought in by animal control and unwanted dogs and cats surrendered by their owners.
How do these homeless and vulnerable dogs and cats fare? | ||||
| Dogs | Cats | Total | ||
| Adoption Rate | ||||
| AWLA | 65.2% | 63.8% | 64.2% | |
| CASPCA | 86.7% | 79.4% | 82.3% | |
| Euthanization Rate | ||||
| AWLA | 29.2% | 29.7% | 29.5% | |
| CASPCA | 10.6% | 14.3% | 13.1% | |
| Arlington County has more potential adopters for homeless animals than Albemarle County. Arlington residents are more likely than Albermarle residents to have the financial resources to adopt a pet. And Arlington’s homeless cats and dogs have fewer peers to compete with when they try to attract one of those adopters.
The only advantage Albermarle County’s homeless animals have over those in Arlington County is that CASPCA manages one of the most competent and compassionate animal shelters in the country. If you were a homeless dog or cat, where would you rather be? | ||||
Yardsticks: AWLA vs. Charlottesville SPCA
December 24, 2009 by shelterhawk
