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Animal Services Monthly Report March, 2008 <br />Moreover, it is possible to determine the rate of live release for placeable animals and <br />animals that have been recovered for a given month. Placeable animals do not include <br />animals surrendered by their owner for euthanasia (usually due to illness, infirmity or a <br />behavior problem); feral cats (as these are typically not placed); or animals that died <br />before arriving at the shelter or in our custody as a result of an “untreatable” injury or <br />illness. The number of placeable animals is determined by subtracting animals <br />surrendered for euthanasia, feral cats, and deceased animals from the total number of <br />animals dispositioned in a given month. <br />For the month of March, there were 271 total animals dispositioned. When we remove <br />the animals surrendered for euthanasia, the feral cats and those animals that arrived dead <br />or died of an untreatable injury while at the shelter, we are left with 234 “placeable” <br />animals. To find the “live release rate,” we must then divide the total number of “live <br />releases” (150) by the total number of potentially placeable animals whose disposition <br />was decided in the month (234)—and as can be seen in Table B.2 Live Release for <br />Placeable and Recovered Animals, the rate is 64 percent for the month of March.2 <br />With respect to adoptions themselves, finally, several observations can be made. By <br />comparison with February 2008, there is a slight decrease in the number of adoptions (89 <br />vs. 97), and a slight decrease in the number of “live releases” (150 vs. 157). When <br />compared with March in 2007, there was a slight increase in adoptions for the month (89 <br />in March 2008 vs. 85 in March 2007), but a decrease in the total number of live releases <br />(150 vs. 170). <br />Pet Demographics and Overpopulation <br />It is often said that pet problems are people problems, and that pet overpopulation is a <br />community problem. These insights very much apply to our own circumstances and they <br />help create a broader perspective in which to understand our own sheltering statistics. <br />More specifically, the number of animals that are sheltered in a given period of time is <br />itself not caused by or a direct function of our sheltering operations and practices. The <br />number of unwanted animals in our communities (sometimes referred to as “surplus” <br />pets); the extent to which cats, rabbits and dogs alike are spayed or neutered rather than <br />allowed to remain intact and reproduce; the strength of norms and customs of responsible <br />pet ownership; the scope and strength of animal regulations and their effective <br />enforcement; and other such “variables” are what affect the number of animals that are <br />sheltered in our own and other communities. <br />Monthly and Seasonal Variations <br />2In earlier monthly reports, this was referred to as the “adoptable placement rate” versus the “gross placement rate,” <br />insofar as the latter was determined on the basis of all animals dispositioned in a given month. <br />4