The Porter County Animal Shelter today released animal intake and outcome data for 2015 that confirms their continued status as a NO KILL Shelter and announced the launch of a new website.
Of the total 1135 animal outcomes in 2015, 7.05% (80) of those outcomes have been because of euthanization, 26 for aggressive behaviors and 54 for medical reasons. The standard for achieving no kill status is that the shelter maintains a euthanization rate below 10%. The shelter had 1139 intakes for the year, with 1135 outcomes. 92% of the animals that came into the shelter were adopted, reclaimed by their owners, or placed with rescue organizations.
“It was a good year for the Shelter and our animals,” said Shelter Director Toni Bianchi. “We were able to make these achievements because of the support of the public, our partner rescue organizations, and a committed Shelter staff. But, we have more work to do.”
82% of the 2015 animal intakes were strays, yet only 24% of the outcomes were return to owner. 5.7% of the intakes were owner surrenders and 6% were adoption returns.
“We took a hard look at these numbers and found a need to better educate the public about resources to find and reclaim their lost animals, alternatives to owner surrenders, and helping potential adopters truly understand that adopting an animal is a serious, lifelong commitment,” said Bianchi. “That was a big part of our decision to develop a new and more comprehensive website so that we could try and reduce the number of animals coming into the shelter.”
To address these challenges, the new website includes categories for help in finding and reclaiming lost animals, as well as alternatives to the most common reasons for owner surrenders. It also has substantial information for those thinking of adopting, including costs of owning an animal, the supplies needed, choosing the right animal for their lifestyle, and planning the animal’s homecoming.
“During Toni’s short tenure as Director, we’ve seen amazing progress at the Shelter and it is fantastic that she is now proactively trying to reduce animal intakes through public education and awareness,” said Porter County Commissioner Laura Blaney.
During the website development process, shelter staff compiled lists of the most commonly asked questions by the public, and identified areas where the public can be engaged in supporting the Shelter’s mission. As a result, there are also over 80 subpages that include adoption success stories, volunteering, upcoming events, becoming a foster, the Shelter’s wish list, updates on the new shelter, low cost spay/neuter programs, and much more.
“We've tried to develop a website that is user friendly and offers information that is truly educational and useful,” said Bianchi. “I believe we achieved that goal and couldn’t have done it without the help of our Facebook Manager Curt Ellis and his dedication in helping to promote the continued success of the shelter. He contributed 80 hours of his own time to launch the new website and we can’t thank him enough for all his efforts.”
The new website can be viewed at www.porterco.org/pcas