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Health & Fitness

Times are Tough and We Don't Have The Budget

In our search for the reasons that Prince George's County Animal Management Division kills about 6,000 animals every year, we have examined several of the popular claims. 

(In this discussion, please keep in mind that we are defining "No Kill" as an open admission, municipal shelter, or a non-profit organization with a contract with a municipality.  They must have reached the milestone of saving the lives of 90% or more of all animals presented to them, sustained that rate for a year, and provide statistical data on the web or on request.)

To recap ...

It seems that if we use verifiable data from the U.S. Census and the Pet Products Marketing Industry, and a little simple arithmetic, we can determine that there IS NO "pet overpopulation" problem.  The pet ownership rate remains the same but PG AMD fills only about 4% of the demand while county residents go elsewhere for their companions.

"We are Open Admission" is not a valid reason to kill so many animals, because ALL "No Kill" shelters are, by definition, open admission.

The large population of the County is not a valid reason because there are other municipalities that approximate the population of our county which have achieved "No Kill."

The large intake of animals in Prince George's County is not a valid reason because there are other municipalities that take in as many, and even more who have achieved "No Kill."

One factor that could be a valid reason for having a difficult time saving a high percentage of the animals taken in, is a high intake-to-population ratio.  That might be a problem elsewhere, but Prince George's County has among the lowest ratios.  The national average is 23 shelter animals per 1,000 population.  We examined ratios as high as 87.8 per 1,000 in Boulder County, CO.  Prince George's County's intake-to-population ratio is only 11.8 per 1,000.

So far, every claim that we have examined has turned out to be simply an excuse for the high kill rate.

Income and Poverty

Economic conditions are potentially a factor that could effect a shelter's ability to save animals.

Although the pet ownership rates have remained almost constant nationwide, varying only a few percent, the economy has not had the same effect in every geographic area.  Depending on the population, the types of industries and the effects of the economy on the industries in the area, one geographic location may be impacted more or less than another by an economic downturn.

Two of the metrics available to gauge the economic conditions are the Median Income and the Poverty Rate.  These figures are available on the U.S. Census website along with the Population and Household counts.

According to the U.S. Census 2010, the Median Income for the USA, as a whole, is $52,762 and the Poverty Rate is 14.3%.

How is the Save Rate Impacted by Economic Conditions?

Let's revisit some of the jurisdictions that we have looked at before.

(If it is helpful to you, click on the two Bar Graphs in the slide show.  The Median Income and Poverty Rate graphs have a horizontal line at the average for the USA.  The charts show the relationship among the communities that we discuss, and the average value for the USA.  There is an arrow pointing to the bar that represents Prince George's County.)

Austin, Texas has a median income of $51,596, slightly lower than the national average, and a poverty rate of 18.5% which is greater than the national average.  In spite of a somewhat more difficult climate, Austin TX was able to save 91% of the animals in 2011.

Kansas City, MO has an even lower median income of $45,256, 14.2% below the national average.  Their poverty rate is 18.2%, about the same as Austin, TX.  The Kansas City, MO, save rate was also 91% during the fiscal year 7/12-6/13.

Somebody Has To Be ABOVE Average

When compared to the National Median Income of $52,762, Washoe County, NV is higher at $55,813.  Their Poverty Rate is lower than the National Poverty Rate of 14.3%, at 12.9%.  The Save Rate in Washoe County, NV, was 94%.

The Median Income in Seattle, WA, was $61,856, and the Poverty Rate was 13.2%.  The Save Rate in Seattle was 91% in 2010.

Boulder County, CO enjoyed a $66,479 Median Income with a Poverty Rate of 13%.  The Save Rate in Boulder County was 93% in 2011

Williamson County, TX had the highest Median Income yet, at $71,346 and a Poverty Rate of only 6.3%.  Their Save Rate was 94%.

It appears that there might be a very loose relationship between the economic conditions and the save rate, except, ...

Even higher than all of the other jurisdictions considered, Prince George's County had a Median Income of $72,447.  The Poverty Rate was a low 8.2%, well below the National Poverty Rate of 14.3%.  In spite of being among the jurisdictions with the most favorable conditions, with a high rate of income and low poverty rate, Prince George's County Animal Management Division kills 6,000 animals every year.  Why?

(Again, you can click on the two bar graphs in the slide show to see the relationship between the USA National figure, Prince George's County, and the several other communities that have achieved the 90% milestone.)

It seems that the economic conditions in the jurisdiction do not have to stand in the way of achieving and exceeding the "No Kill" milestone save rate of 90%.  That is, unless they are being used as a convenient excuse.

We Just Don't Have The Budget

Another claim that has been made as to why PG AMD must kill so many healthy, adoptable animals year after year, is that AMD has not been allocated a sufficient budget to allow them to achieve "No Kill".

The factor that is at work here, is the budgetary allocation in dollars per capita in the jurisdiction.  In other words, if there are a million people being served by the Animal Control/Animal Shelter, and they received $4 Million per year, that would be a $4 per capita budgetary allocation.

Now, this sounds simple, but this research has proven to be very difficult, let me explain.

The two figures needed are the total revenues for Animal Control (AC) plus the Animal Shelter (AS), and the number of people served by that operation.  Much easier said than determined.

In Search of Revenues

Sometimes the AC and the AS are handled by a municipal government.  In this case, the revenues can be extracted from the budget statements which are generally available. Sometimes the AS operation is contracted to a non-profit organization.  Sometimes both the AC and the AS are contracted to a non-profit organization.  ... sometimes to multiple non-profit organizations.  The more players there are, the more difficult it becomes to find revenue figures.

Government agencies are different from non-profit corporations.  Government agencies can get a budgetary allocation from the municipality and non-profit corporations can receive payment of a contract, it's true.  Government agencies, although they can accept donations when offered, they are prohibited by law from soliciting donations.  (Yes, that "Donations" option on the AMD web page is known as "Charities Fraud", but, so what?)  Anyway, the revenues of a non-profit may consist of payments from the government, plus a significant amount may come from fundraising.

In Search of Constituents

This can be harder than identifying the budgetary allocation.  Some AC/AS providers service the residents of a city or town.  Sometimes it is a County (or Parish).  Sometimes it is more than one county (Tri-County in Southern Maryland).  Sometimes it is a city and a county, as in Charlottesville (city)/Albemarle County.  It gets worse.  Sometimes a AC/AS agency will service several cities, PLUS the residents who live in the area (but whose population statistics are not counted with any of the cities).

A Cop Out

I admit it.  I've given up trying to gather the data for communities to show the budgetary allocation per capita.  My intent was to prove, or disprove, the relationship between the per capita budgetary allocation and the save rate.  This would reveal if the 90% milestone save rate is dependent on a large allocation of funds.

Fortunately, there is a fall-back.  A survey of a dozen shelters was done by the No Kill Advocacy Center and the results were published in June 2009.  Please check it out HERE:  http://www.pgferals.org/info/file?file=13494.pdf  Also, the last image in the slide show for this message shows the data for the twelve shelters in a slightly different format.

Money Isn't Everything

The funding for these communities ranged from $1.50 to $6.30 per capita.  The save rates ranged from 35% to 90%.

If there were a relationship between budget allocation and save rate, the line (or dots) on the graph would go from lower left to upper right.  In fact, it looks like a snake.

There IS NO RELATIONSHIP between budget allocation and save rate.  In fact, the shelter with the lowest allocation ($1.50) had the highest save rate (90%).

Prince George's County Animal Management Division's annual budget was, for many years, approximately $3.9 Million.  With a population of 863,420 people, that would be $4.52 per capita.  In the past year, that allocation has been reduced slightly to about $4.00 -- right in the middle of the range of budgets considered in the survey.

Eliminate the Negative ...

The achievement of the 90% milestone save rate is not prevented by being an Open Admission Shelter, having a large constituency, or having a large intake.  It certainly is not hampered in Prince George's County by the very favorable conditions of low intake-to-population, high median income, or low poverty rate.  It is also not a matter of needing a larger budget.

Accentuate the Positive ...

The road to No Kill is paved with the proper attitudes and policies.  I mention the attitudes first, which I often call the "MINDSET", because the proper mindset will generate the environment and the policies which will make No Kill success inevitable.  More on that later.

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Tim Saffell is the President of Prince Georges Feral Friends, SPCA, www.PGFerals.org, which sponsors No Kill Prince George’s County MD www.NoKillPrinceGeorgesCountyMD.org .

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