No Place Like Home: How Shelters Can Serve Pets and Their People Where They Are

On a recent episode of the Humane Network’s Shelter Success Simplified podcast, the KSMP’s own Dr. Cindi Delany explained what organizations can do to keep animals from coming into shelters in the first place, and why shifting resources to serve animals and their families right where they are—in the community—can lead to better outcomes for all.

The Humane Network’s key takeaways from the conversation:

  • Time in a shelter is stressful for animals, anything we can do to reduce time spent there is beneficial to the animals. Providing support services to keep pets in homes and making return-to-owner processes easier and friendlier are two examples.

  • Having fewer animals in the shelter reduces the risk of disease transmission and allows you to put more time and resources into helping animals who truly need to be there or need special assistance.

  • The cost of taking in an animal is generally more expensive than helping keep that same animal in their original home, whether it’s providing food, medicine, veterinary treatment, or help with a rental pet deposit.

  • It doesn’t require more resources, instead you are shifting resources from caring for animals in the shelter to helping keep animals with their original families.

  • Start by looking at data to understand what animals are coming in and why.

Listen to the full episode below and explore the library of other Shelter Success Simplified episodes at Humane Network.

Related Articles

When Cats Belong in Their Community

A concerned or frustrated community member arrives at the shelter with a lost cat they found hanging around the neighborhood: traditionally shelters have accepted that cat into their care and, when possible, put it on the path to adoption. That may well be the response the community expects. But what if that’s not actually in the best interest of the cat, lost or not? On the latest episode of Humane Network’s Shelter Success Simplified podcast, KSMP director Dr. Kate Hurley explains why returning a cat to home often means returning a cat to its community.

What National RTO Averages are Not Telling us About Redemption.

With so many of our markers trending in a positive direction, why aren’t we finally seeing an uptick in the ever-stubborn Return to Owner (RTO)? One might predict that the reduction in intake might have allowed staff to reallocate time to redemption efforts that move animals through the shelter faster, but a quick glance at the data suggests that’s not the case. In fact, RTO is down 1% from 13.8% to 12.7% (cats and dogs combined). What the heck?

No Place Like Home: Why RTH Is Key

RTF, TNR, SNR—how about Return to Home? We’re getting clearer on what works and what doesn’t for people and animals, and it’s time to clarify our terminology too. Here are three webinars packed with RTH innovations that benefit both dogs and cats.