Animal shelters across the country are facing overcrowding, with several contributing factors, ranging from inflation to COVID-19. Research suggests that some 2.7 million dogs and cats went without spay and neuter surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control (SFACC), a taxpayer-funded animal shelter, spokesperson Deb Campbell said the agency’s main challenge is one that animal care agencies nationwide are working to address: overcrowding — especially with large dogs. Campbell says having processes online helps.
The agency uses a range of technologies to support operations. Internally, an animal management software — Chameleon — is the primary tool used by staff to manage the animal population, dispatch and other information. Externally, the agency uses tools like Adopt-a-Pet, Petfinder, PawBoost, as well as social media platforms. Some of these tools are linked to relay information about adoptable pets automatically.
Campbell stated that most people that come through the agency’s doors to adopt an animal are doing so after having already seen an animal online or on social media.
Because it is a small agency with a small team, staff work together to use the technology effectively, automating things like web forms wherever possible.
COVID-19 served as a catalyst to digitize processes. Prior to the pandemic, some processes — like coyote and bite reporting — were online, which allowed data to be compiled and analyzed. Now, activities like submitting owner-surrender pet forms and lost pet forms can also be completed online. Those things were automated out of necessity to enable the agency staff to do their job, but the automation has remained because of its effectiveness.
This also helps reduce the time staff spend responding to calls and frees time for other activities.
For SFACC, technology’s primary role is to help the agency reach the community, sharing information about adoption events, animals available for adoption and other services. Campbell’s vision is to use technology to expand the agency’s reach.
Another example of an agency facing high operational demand is Animal Care Centers of NYC (NYCACC).
“Right now, we have over 300 dogs in our care, and we have room for 150,” said Marketing and Communications Director Katy Hansen.
NYCACC operates as an independent 501c3, but is contracted by the city to provide animal services. The city provides about $17 million in funding annually, and NYCACC fundraises for the remaining $5 million needed.
The organization has 300 to 500 animals available for adoption at any given time, so a mobile app was created in part because there were enough animals to warrant it, Hansen explained.
While NYCACC’s website was not always easy to navigate, the app’s creation offered a quicker solution for users to navigate the center’s inventory of animals than the website overhaul, which came later.
In addition, the center partnered with Adopets, a pet adoption management system company, to interface its database with theirs. This allows for applications and payments to be submitted online. According to Hansen, this became extremely important to enable remote services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, NYCACC is working on a website relaunch. Hansen said the center is exploring adding some version of a chatbot to the updated website to walk users through information they need with automated responses — something the center has already implemented on its social media channels. This effort is currently in the planning stages, and Hansen expects the launch is several months away.
“It’s a nationwide problem,” Hansen said of the number of animals in NYCACC’s care. “And we’re trying our best to solve it.”
In sharp contrast with these big-city agencies, smaller localities like the city of Perrysburg, Ohio, must often take a different approach. When the city’s longtime animal control officer retired in 2021, the Police Division started directly taking on the duties of responding to citizen complaints about dogs and other household pets.
Police Chief Patrick Jones said the numbers told the story of need. The data showed the number of calls coming in when the officer was off duty was greater than the number of calls during working hours. In addition, the officer had always operated under the Police Division, so Jones said absorbing the duties was a better way to do it, financially and practically.
In terms of technology available through the Police Division, the main technologies that support animal control work in the city are chip readers and a database of registered pets. This helps the Police Division respond when lost pets are found to help reunite them with their owners.
Some duties fall outside of the Police Division’s jurisdiction, like addressing wild animals. In those cases, constituents can call the Police Division and be referred to appropriate organizations that are qualified to address those issues. The Police Division also works closely with the Wood County dog warden and with partner organizations in the area.
The Police Division looked at the numbers again in late 2022 to see if this new structure has proven effective and will continue.
