Naples Florida Weekly
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Shelters partner with rescue groups and other shelters, helping save pets




COURTESY PHOTO

COURTESY PHOTO

The status of Florida animal shelters over the last 18 months has improved despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing significant changes in the way some shelters operate and the emphasis on what services they provide. But much progress is yet to be made.

The “save” rate for most shelters has risen, but shelters are still at capacity and the influx of cats and kittens during the annual “kitten season,” generally between April and October when female cats often have their litters, has been higher than usual.

The popular belief has been that pet adoptions rose during the first months of the pandemic, but statistics show that isn’t true overall nationally, statewide and among local shelters.

“It is a commonly-repeated myth that home-bound families adopted more pets during the pandemic,” according to the 2020 Florida Shelter Animal Census, compiled by the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.

 

 

The study looked at 154 brick-and-mortar shelters across all Florida counties, not including rescue groups that do not have a physical facility. Of that number, 147 responded with data.

Permanent adoptions in Florida fell from 204,215 in 2019 to 172,407 in 2020, the study says.

This is in part driven by the fact that intake of animals also fell across the board nationally, statewide and locally. Some shelters limited hours or even suspended intake. Many turned their efforts to trying to keep animals from coming into the shelters in the first place, by working with pet owners to resolve the issues that made them decide to surrender the animals, whether it’s vet services, behavioral issues or food.

However, the number of people wanting to foster pets from shelters spiked drastically. Danielle Somerville, animal services program coordinator for Collier County Domestic Animal Services, remembers that at the beginning of the pandemic, when people first began to be homebound, she would come to work and there would be people waiting in line at their shelter door to foster animals. They were worried about what would happen to the animals if the shelter closed, she said. “It was incredibly rewarding. That was the part of the pandemic that was nice.”

Many shelters are now partnering more with other animal shelters and rescue groups, helping each other out when they are at capacity or have a case with special needs. Lee County Domestic Animal Services now partners with 82 shelter and rescue groups across the state, the newest one in Kissimmee, said Karen Fordiani, public information specialist. Some of them are breed-specific or focus on small animals, cat rescues or fostering.

One success story is the case of Khaleesi, a female dog that was found almost starved to death Aug. 11 in Lehigh Acres, her skeletal body barely able to stand. Lee County Domestic Animal Services sent the dog to Mutty Paws Rescue in West Palm Beach. The foster-based rescue is dedicated to providing medical care and rehabilitation to animals facing “death row.” Khaleesi has now gained 10 pounds and is in foster care on the slow but steady road to recovery.

A total of 313,547 cats and dogs were admitted to Florida shelters in 2020. Other highlights from the University of Florida study:

¦ Free-roaming/stray cats and dogs comprised more than half of all intakes.

¦ Live outcomes were achieved for 87% of animals brought into Florida shelters — a jump of 33% since 2013. This number rose to 91% if 10,697 animals brought to shelters specifically for euthanasia services were not included.

¦ Adoptions (63%) were the main avenue for live outcomes, followed by transfers to other groups (17%), return to owner (10%), and return to field of community cats (8%).

¦ Dog euthanasia has decreased 78% and cat euthanasia has decreased 81% since 2013.

Saving cats remains the biggest challenge. Nationally, they are brought into shelters more than twice as many times as dogs. Statewide and locally, a nearly 2-to-1 ratio is common.

The University of Florida study says that live outcomes for cats (84%) still lag behind that for dogs (91%). Almost twice as many cats are euthanized compared to dogs.

While Florida is seeing some gains internally, a national study called “The State of U.S. Animal Sheltering 2020” by Best Friends, a leader in the no-kill movement, rates Florida as No. 4 in the country in terms of the number of cats and dogs that need saving, with 24,289.

The commonly accepted benchmark for a no-kill animal shelter is a 90% save rate. Best Friends calls the difference between a shelter’s current save rate and the no-kill benchmark the “lifesaving gap.”

Six states: Texas, California, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, account for 50.4% of the lifesaving gap in the country, the study says.

On a positive note, the lifesaving gap for all six states, and nearly every other state in the country, decreased in 2020. Florida’s dropped by 46.6%, from 45,503 cats and dogs that needed saving to 24,289.

Nationwide, there was a 44.6% drop, from 625,400 dogs and cats to 346,622.

There is a lack of consistency in the way animal shelter data is defined and tracked nationwide. There is no federally-mandated reporting. Best Friends began compiling its database of brickand mortar shelters in about 2010.

The trends show animal intakes are lower everywhere, said Sarah Baeckler Davis, executive director of the Humane Society Naples, a nonprofit, no-kill shelter. “There are definitely fewer animals in the shelter.” This may mean fewer people are making the decision to give up animals, or more people are re-homing directly, which is less stress for the animal, she said.

When the pandemic first began, there was a kind of crush of interest, with a spike in adopting and fostering. More people realized they were going to be home. “Everybody’s lives turned upside down,” she said. “The intake wasn’t high enough to meet the demand.”

The Humane Society Naples takes on more difficult cases, animals with medical or behavioral issues. “They’ll have really specific needs,” Ms. Davis said.

“We are always full. If space is available, we’ll fill it up. Those are lives we will be saving.” The shelter has a waiting list, she said.

The shelters do try to help each other out, she said. They try to make space available to rural areas that have few or no resources to help homeless pets.

They also encourage fostering animals. “It’s so crucial to our work.” It allows shelters to expand their reach and save more lives, she said. “It’s a rewarding, awesome family experience.”

Collier County Domestic Animal Services is seeing an uptick in intake numbers 18 months into the pandemic. In 2020, the shelter took in 3,782 animals. In 2021, with three months left in the year, their intake is already at 3,780, said Danielle Somerville, animal services program coordinator.

Last year, no one was leaving their homes, she said. “Now people are going back to work.” Most animals they are taking in are strays, not pet surrenders.

Some of the changes they made last year to adapt to the impact of the pandemic saw positive results. When someone called saying they had found a dog, instead of picking it up right away or asking the person to bring it to the shelter, they asked the person to hold the animal for 24 hours, if possible. Since most dogs are lost just a block or two away from home, the move resulted in 70 percent of lost dogs being returned to their owner without having to go to the shelter.

The fostering of animals also increased significantly, Ms. Somerville said. In 2019, a total of 661 animals were in foster care. In 2020, the number increased to 878. In 2021 so far, 891 animals are being fostered.

The shelter is also partnering more with other shelters, she said. “We always had a strong relationship, but it’s definitely enhanced.”

Right now, they are just trying to get through kitten season, Ms. Somerville said. Some days, they may just taken in two. Other days, there may be three mother cats with litters of eight babies each. “I have three kittens in my office right now,” she said.

The kitten season explosion shelters are facing is “insane,” said Betty Hughes, board member and treasurer of The Animal Refuge Center in North Fort Myers. The nonprofit is the largest no-kill shelter/sanctuary in Southwest Florida. She’s been doing this for 20 years and has never seen anything like it. “I’ve done non-stop bottle raising for 10 months,” she said.

Staffing is also a major challenge.

“We want to expand. We have the land,” Ms. Hughes said. A brand-new cat building will be completed in two months, which will house 80 cats — if they can get more financial support to finish it, and if they are able to staff it, she said.

“In the rescue world, you just gotta keep the faith that kindhearted people will step forward.” ¦

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