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Animal Services Monthly Report October, 2009 <br /> <br />3 <br />cats euthanized during the month and 25 percent of all animals euthanized. For dogs, the <br />primary reasons for euthanasia for the month was behavioral, with 37 dogs euthanized for <br />this reason. This made up 60 percent of the dogs euthanized and 18 percent of all <br />animals euthanized for the month. <br /> <br />Also, we anticipate further development of the euthanasia categories that are used to <br />report such information. Of special note is the generation of more specific information <br />concerning the medical and behavioral reasons for euthanasia—not only because this <br />clarifies the difficult decisions that staff must make on daily basis but because such <br />information enables us to discuss whether there are specific programs that may be offered <br />to reduce the rate of euthanasia of certain animals. <br /> <br />Finally, our intention is to link specific monthly reports such as this one to data about <br />trends in our services and activities. What we foresee is a related set of graphs showing <br />monthly data over time that enable us to identify and evaluate trends in key services and <br />activities in relation to policies, practices and our own mission. As allowed by time in <br />the coming year, these graphs will be prepared and they are expected to be presented <br />along with reports of standard statistics for a given month. <br /> <br /> <br />Adoptions and “Lives Releases” <br /> <br />The placement of healthy and behaviorally sound animal companions is one of the <br />foremost objectives of Orange County’s Animal Services Department. The direct <br />placement or “re-homing” of small animals, cats and dogs occurs through our own <br />adoption program. In addition, many companion animals are transferred to “placement <br />partners”—that is, non-breed as well as breed specific rescue organizations for cats and <br />dogs (as well as other animals)—for their final placement on the basis of additional effort <br />and evaluation by these various animal organizations. <br /> <br />Adoptions and transfer are two of the three elements of what can be referred to as “live <br />releases.” Animal companions recovered by their owners or a custodian—usually if not <br />always “stray” animals brought to Orange County’s Animal Services Center either by one <br />of our Animal Control Officers or a member of the public—form the third element of <br />animals that are released alive. <br /> <br />Using this basic formula, it is possible to calculate the total (or absolute) number of <br />animals that are released alive from Orange County’s Animal Services Center.1 The <br />figures needed to make this calculation are provided by table B.1 Monthly Dispositions: <br /> <br />1 It should be said that we are using “live release” rather than “placement” for two very specific reasons as well as <br />because it has become a convention in the field of animal welfare since the appearance of the Asilomar Accords <br />(http://www.asilomaraccords.org/). One reason is that it includes all animals that are not euthanized, i.e., transfers to <br />placement partners and returns to owners and custodians as well as direct adoptions. The other reason is that it does not <br />presume that an animal transferred to placement partners is, in fact, “re-homed.” In the absence of feedback data from <br />these organizations, which is desirable and an objective toward which we are working, there is no way to know what <br />decision they have ultimately made about the disposition of a particular animal. <br />