Statistics That Animal People Can Use!

Finally! I was very pleased to come across the National Council of Pet Population Study and Policy. It is a council composed of animal groups working on gathering statistics and conducting research on shelter management and operations.

This is very important work. It elevates the profession of shelter management and drags animal work into the discipline of social science research. I'm sure there are animal activists and professionals out there who will resist this. It's too "regimented" and why spend the time collecting dry numbers when you can be rescuing rabbits or cats or whatever?

Rescue work is important, but we can't just focus on the individual animal. We must look at the big picture and realize that we are MANAGING a problem with identifiable causes. There is nothing wrong in using a stuffy discipline if it can help us understand how to manage our rescues and adoptions more efficiently and effectively.

Only drawback is that the focus of this group is on dog and cat stats. But that's understandable as they are the predominant shelter residents at this time.