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DRAFT <br /> <br /> <br />7. Benefits and Program Evaluation <br />The potential benefits of the initiatives set out in the previous section are far-reaching insofar as <br />they are successful in decreasing the number of free-roaming cats in Orange County. <br />Sheltering benefits are expected to include fewer feline intakes, reduced board days, a <br />reduction in the number of cats euthanized, and a reduction in the rate of euthanasia. <br />Community benefits are expected to include lowered risk of rabies transmission, reduced <br />nuisance issues for residents in municipal and unincorporated areas alike, and less loss and <br />injury to wildlife from feline predators. <br />There may also be more general benefits as the health and welfare of remaining free-roaming <br />cats improve with sterilization and more adequate vaccination. Fewer cats may result in less <br />disease and infection, less fighting for territory, and less stress associated with living outside. <br />Outcomes such as these may affect many different aspects of the free-roaming cat problem. <br />They are at once beneficial to specific areas of community, public health, and animal welfare <br />and sheltering. <br />An integral part of the task force’s plan is program evaluation and management. Sheltering and <br />intake numbers are one measure of success, as intake and litter numbers are tracked and <br />evaluated over the course of the five-year plan. Similarly, community benefits may be <br />measured in different ways, such as the number of cat nuisance calls received and the number <br />of cat traps borrowed annually. <br />Because so many free-roaming cats are never brought into the county’s animal shelter, more <br />general measures will also be needed. The intention is to develop a community database from <br />statistics pooled by the different groups working with free-roaming cats in Orange County. <br />Ideally, it would be possible to aggregate some data from each group and track the total number <br />of free-roaming cats over time. In this way, it would be possible to determine whether the plan <br />is effectively contributing to the goal of decreasing free-roaming cat numbers. <br />Database development will depend upon the development of strong partner ties during the <br />formative period of the plan. It may be a matter of agreeing to aggregative already available <br />statistics from different partners, or alternatively it may depend upon the creation of some <br />statistics by partners for aggregation. In either case, developing a comprehensive database <br />from pooled information will depend upon developing good working relationships and a shared <br />commitment to decreasing the number of free-roaming cats.