Shelter Rounds - Key Personnel Discussion for At-Risk Animals

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Wake County Animal Center initiated weekly Shelter Rounds meetings with key personnel from administration, veterinary and kennel operations to discuss animals that are considered to be at-risk for euthanasia due to certain behavioral issues being shown on the adoption floor. The goal of these meetings is to identify those at-risk animals early on when symptoms of decline first start to show and to develop a plan to aid in the live release of those at-risk animals. By identifying the potential causes of the at-risk behavior, a multi-pronged approach can be taken. The multi-prong approach includes increased specific enrichment from our volunteers, increased marketing for placement in our Foster Program and increased marketing to our transfer partners. A major objective that the Wake County Animal Center has been tasked with is to increase the live release rate of those animals coming into our care. Through this program 82.57% of these at-risk animals were able to be adopted, placed in foster care or transferred to one of our rescue partners. This includes a 46.79% adoption rate for these animals - a 6% higher rate than the remaining intake at the Animal Center.