Shelter Statistics

The goal of the MAC Shelter Statistics Task Force is to make standardized, high quality statewide data on homeless animals available to animal welfare programs and state and local policy decision-makers.  At present, shelter data are not centralized statewide and the number of homeless animals sheltered, adopted, or euthanized annually is unknown.

As a first step, the Task Force is using results from a web-based survey of more than 100 organizations that summarizes what data are presently collected, the means of recording the data, and how such data is used.  This information will permit MAC to assess the types and amounts of technical support these organizations need to achieve longer term goals.  MAC will work with these groups to strengthen their data handling capacity.

This information will provide evidence of the scope of the problem, thus permitting shelter and rescue organizations in the state to join efforts on behalf of homeless animals. It will allow individual organizations to focus their own efforts where they’re most needed, and can be used to support spay/neuter activities.

This activity is intended to help shelters gain capacity for “doing it right” while making sure that MAC takes a careful and appropriate approach to the problem, taking into account the realities that shelter programs face.