Animal shelter leading the way on data-driven results

Anecdotes about DALLAS — pitiful dogs and cats in need melt hearts, but this cold, hard fact is even more troubling: 12,000 pets are surrendered annually by their owners to Dallas Animal Services.

T hat awful “dumping ground” number — and how to reduce it — was just one of the tough issues tackled recently in a no-frills hotel meeting room near DallasFort Worth Airport during a rare gathering of large urban animal operations leaders.

The very fact that these shelter leaders came together for a specific task — the development of unified metrics that can be expanded nationwide — is unusual in the animal services world.

Just three years ago, the shelter was a joke. Management essentially ignored a loose-dog crisis in southern Dallas, ran off would-be rescue partners and stonewalled anyone who dared say a critical word about DAS.

Not until the deadly maul- ing of South Dallas resident Antoinette Brown by a pack of dogs in May 2016 did City Hall take notice. The changes city leaders made eventually led to the hiring of DAS Director Ed Jamison, Assistant Director Ryan Rogers, and in turn, a top-notch team of shelter and field experts.

These days, the DAS approach to both public safety and animal welfare is a numbers-driven neversay-die strategy that’s caught national attention. That’s why the national Best Friends Animal Society came to Dallas to host directors of 10 large shelters from across the Southwest to talk metrics and field operations and what works and what doesn’t.

“My head hurts because we talked about so many things,” Jamison told The Dallas Morning News . “But

That cuddly new puppy can be pretty intimidating if pet owners consider the veterinary bills it might produce.

A pet’s torn knee ligaments or a broken leg that needs surgery could cost a few thousand dollars. Even stitches to close a bite wound after a scrap with another dog can cost several hundred dollars.

Fortunately, pet insurance can defray some of these costs. But many U.S. pet owners don’t have it.

Here are some tips for handling a big, unexpected vet expense.

Consider alternatives

Veterinarians may be able to suggest cheaper treatment options.

Cats often do best if they have surgery to repair a broken bone, said Gary Block of the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association. But some fractures may also heal if the pet owner is willing to confine the animal to a small crate for several weeks.

A second opinion also may be helpful. Care from another veterinarian may cost less — especially if the vet is in a small town — or they might be able to suggest a less expensive option. But prepare to pay a consulting fee to find out.

Veterinarians are used to dealing with financial worwe made important prog- ress.”

The owner surrender statistic, which includes a small number of stray dogs and cats that residents brought to the shelter, stood out to me as the one in most need of improvement. The prob- lem illustrates the animal-ser- vices work that summit par- ticipants cite as their tough- est: Figuring out how shelters and their partners can help owners long before the day they give up on their pet and decide to surrender it.

Everyone at the meeting said those answers start with ensuring that the pub- lic understands that “dog catcher” doesn’t come close to describing what field and shelter staffers are equipped to do and what resources animal services operations can provide to help both pets and people. Whether it’s getting support to better train a dog, helping owners keep fences secure or finding low-cost vet services, the shelters want to start conversations at the first signs of trouble.

But getting the right messages out — or even knowing what the right messages should be — remains a chalries and ultimately want to avoid something called “eco- nomic euthanasia,” where a pet owner has an animal put down because they can’t afford the bill to fix it.

“There are people who truly can’t afford the care, and there are people who decide it’s not a priority,” Block said. “It is common enough and difficult enough that every veterinarian in the world is constantly look- ing for ways to address that issue.”

Seek financial help

Many veterinarians will set up a no-interest payment plan, especially for customers who have been with them for a while, Block said. He also noted that big animal hospitals may have their own lenge.

For instance, despite a hefty outreach campaign, Dallas Animal Services often sees social media posts of residents who fear taking a lost dog or cat to the shelter because they believe it will be euthanized immediately. Yet the shelter is the clear- inghouse that is most likely to have info on hand to get the animal back to its home.

That’s where better data comes in. Jamison and Tim Morton, director of Fort Worth Animal Care and Control, said the emphasis on numbers related to intake and live release or euthanasia needs to shift to include other information collected in the field.

“Most of the problems aren’t about an animal but about a human somewhere along the way,” Jamison said. “What data might we be able to link together — and would it tell a different or more revealing story?” he asked, pointing to items such as volume and types of calls, response times and bite incidents.

The summit participants noted that even agreeing on what constitutes a dog bite is not easy. “Are scratches financial assistance funds to help customers.

The Humane Society also offers links to several funds. Some help animals with heart problems, others deal with cancer or are breed specific.

These funds may only be able to offer a few hundred dollars in help, so they won’t put much of a dent in a par- ticularly large bill.

The website Waggle lets pet owners raise money that gets sent directly to the veterinarian to pay bills.

“People are often willing to open their wallets to help,” Block noted.

Pet owners also may be able to find discounted care through local animal shelters or veterinary schools. Eligi- bility for that may be based on income. a part of that? What must the severity be?” Jamison said. “Do we just focus on bites by truly loose dogs or by loose owned dogs too?”

Scott Giacoppo, director of national shelter outreach with Best Friends Animal Society, also believes strongly that better data is the answer to many unresolved animalservices challenges.

“Success isn’t just how many animals we pull off the street, but how many we actually don’t have to pull off the street — but instead improve their lives in their homes and communities,” he said. “Those are the things we need to measure for.”

Another of the day’s big topics was Dallas’ decision to replace the licensing of pets with mandatory microchipping — and the drastically improved return-to-owner rates that have followed.

The summit participants told me that getting smart people into the same room for brainstorming helps them spot trends from information that can otherwise seems a necdotal and random. Aaron Johnson, who runs the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, north of Houston, said it’s “a dream to bring together directors like this to get out of our own silos and better tackle problems.”

The leaders said they’ll continue talking about a system of unified metrics. While their work hardly sounds warm and fuzzy — especially when compared to individual dog tales, Dallas Animal Services has proven that success is best hitched to telling a story with data.

Justlast week, in its quar- terly report to the Animal Advisory Commission, DAS presented detailed numbers showing a 22%increase in field dog intake over the same period last year, a 10% increase in its live release rate, and a 16% decrease in dog bites involving both loose dogs and loose owned dogs.

Practice prevention

Before getting a pet, prospective owners should research the animal they want, especially if they are considering purebreds. They are more likely to develop health problems. Golden retrievers are known for developing cancer as they age. Doberman pinscher can develop serious heart trouble.

“It bums me out when someone buys a French bulldog and then yells at me when their pet needs $2,000 of surgery because it’s congenitally malformed skull prevents it from breathing normally,” Block said.

After buying a pet, owners also should keep vaccinations updated. Block noted that a $20 vaccine could prevent a dog from coming down with an expensive illness.

Pet insurance also can protect against future bills, although it may come with a reimbursement cap and likely won’t cover conditions or injuries that developed before the policy started. It can cost around $30 a month or less, depending on the animal.

Pet owners who don’t opt for insurance should start a savings fund for future vet bills as soon as they get the animal, said James Serpell of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

“Keep it as a safety net in case you are faced with one of these massive bills,” he said. “Otherwise you’re going to be in trouble.”