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organizations and individual members of the public with a commitment to the welfare of animals in our <br />community. And we look forward to our continued work with stakeholders, partners and members of the <br />general public in addressing and ultimately resolving what at root is a community problem—namely, the <br />problem of pet overpopulation. <br /> <br />Questions about the statistics and narrative discussion that follow may be addressed to Robert A. <br />Marotto, Director, Orange County Animal Services at bmarotto@co.orange.nc.us. <br /> <br /> <br />Factors Affecting Animal Dispositions <br /> <br />A number of observations may be made about the decline in the number of animal adoptions and “live <br />releases” during the period under consideration. While some of these concern specific challenges, <br />others relate to changes in our internal processes and service orientation. Also of note are some broader <br />factors related to the operation of Orange County’s Animal Shelter in a dynamic context. <br /> <br />Challenges <br /> <br />• Building maintenance during this period (painting the shelter floors and walls), required to <br />comply with new state regulations for public shelters, caused loss of space for holding animals <br />and thus reduced the number of animals available for adoption for the duration of the project. <br />• Since early Jan uary, a significant amount of kennel space has been needed to house nearly <br />twenty (20) dogs seized as a result of an animal cruelty investigation. Needless to say, less space <br />has been available for adoptable animals as a result of this unavoidable seizure. . <br />• Staffing vacancies inhibited the department’s ability to maximize adoption opportunities <br />particularly with respect to promoting adoptions in the community and developing collaborative <br />relationships with rescue organizations. <br /> <br />Changes <br /> <br />• Improvements in the area of adoption counseling provide the public with better information about <br />the responsibilities involved in owning and caring for pets. This critical educational process has <br />promoted more informed decision making, but it may sometime mean that a potential adopter <br />chooses to not adopt at this time <br />• Our goal is to ensure that animals made available for adoption are both healthy and behaviorally <br />sound. Improvements have been made to the process used to evaluate animals and thereby help <br />to identify animals not suitable for placement into the community. The end result of this process <br />is of great benefit to those adopting from the shelter; however it impacts the number of animals <br />made available for adoption to the general public. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Context <br />