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Animal Services Monthly Report September, 2008 <br /> <br />4 <br />For the month, there was a total of 204 “live releases,” consisting of 133 adoptions, 27 <br />transfers and 44 returns to owners or custodians. <br /> <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; or animals that are being held for a bite quarantine or court case. The number of <br />placeable animals is determined by subtracting animals surrendered for euthanasia, feral <br />cats, deceased animals, and court and bite holds from the total number of animals <br />dispositioned in a given month. <br /> <br />For the month of September, there were 491 total animals dispositioned. When we <br />remove the animals on bite and court holds, animals surrendered for euthanasia, the feral <br />cats and those animals that arrived dead or died of an untreatable injury while at the <br />shelter, we are left with 432 “placeable” animals. To find the “live release rate,” we must <br />then divide the total number of “live releases” (204) by the total number of potentially <br />placeable animals whose disposition was decided in the month (432)—and as can be seen <br />in Table B.2 Live Release for Placeable and Recovered Animals, the rate is 47 percent for <br />the month of September.2 <br /> <br />With respect to adoptions themselves, finally, several observations can be made. By <br />comparison with August 2008, there is a slight decrease in the number of adoptions (133 <br />vs. 139), and a slight decrease in the number of “live releases” (204 vs. 218). When <br />compared with September in 2007, there was also a decrease in adoptions for the month <br />(133 in September 2008 vs. 147 in September 2007), but an increase in the total number <br />of live releases (204 vs. 195). <br /> <br /> <br />Pet Demographics and Overpopulation <br /> <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 /> <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 /> <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 /> <br />