September 2023 Monthly Report

Learn about animal intakes, outcomes, return to owner rates, average length of stay, live-release rates, and other agency statistics for September 2023.

Summary

The September 2023 monthly report includes reporting on factors including return to owner (RTO) rates for found animals, average length of stay (LOS), in addition to live-release-rates. These are key industry measures for the effectiveness of shelter operations to reunite or find placements for animals. There are also numbers of volunteers in each role, in addition to contributed hours.

Animal Intake

MCAS accepted stray dogs, sick, injured or at-risk adult cats and kittens from the public. Officers also picked up stray or lost animals. Owner-surrendered animals were accepted on a case by case basis, depending on urgent circumstances. Other intakes commonly represent animals placed into protective custody by Animal Services officers, injured wildlife, or other Field-Services circumstances.

Intake Type	Dog	Puppy	Cat	Kitten	Wildlife	Other	Total
Stray or at large	179	21	95	170	10	15	490
Owner Surrenders	22	0	13	3	0	1	39
All Other Intakes	3	0	5	13	3	0	24
Total Live Intake	204	21	113	186	13	16	553

Veterinary Care Provided

Animal Health and Animal Care staff provided a wide range of veterinary services to animals in care.

To keep animals healthy, Animal Health staff administered 625 vaccinations, including rabies, DA2PP and Bordetella for dogs and puppies, and FVRCP for cats and kittens.

They provided 989 health exams and consultations, including routine exams, wound checks, pre-surgery checkups, behavior assessments, and reviewing test results or diagnoses with foster volunteers. Due to veterinary staff availability, spay and neuter surgeries for shelter animals were limited, and many adopters were issued vouchers to complete surgeries and rabies vaccination at contracted veterinary clinics, including Oregon Humane Society.

Veterinary Service	Cats	Kittens	Dogs	Puppies	Other	Total
Health Exams & Consults	245	384	287	20	53	989
Spay & Neuter Surgeries	15	47	12	1	7	82
Medications Administered	688	739	1,236	57	86	2,806
Tests & Diagnostics	7	4	0	0	0	11
Vaccinations	113	271	195	29	17	625
Other Vet Treatments	131	648	518	92	14	1,403
Total Services	1,199	2,093	2,248	199	177	5,916

Fostered Animals

The majority of animals in foster care were kittens, cats, dogs, rabbits, and puppies. Many animals entered and left foster care over the course of the month, so the total number represents the cumulative total, and not the maximum number of animals in care at one time.

Animal type	Entered care	Previously in care	Total in foster care	Returned from care
Cats	11	33	44	18
Kittens	105	76	181	84
Dogs	16	13	29	14
Puppies	7	6	13	11
Other	1	13	14	11
Total	140	141	281	138

Animal Outcomes

Length of Stay (LOS)	Dog	Puppy	Cat	Kitten	Overall
Average Days	11	6	15	21	17

Return to Owner (RTO)*	Dog	Puppy	Cat	Kitten	Other	Total
Stray (No ID)	55%	42%	23%	5%	7%	25%
Stray (With ID)	69%	100%	25%	0%	0%	54%
Average RTO Rate	59%	48%	24%	4%	7%	30%

*RTO is calculated only for reclaimed animals with a stray intake circumstance.

Live Release Rate (Live Outcomes / Total Outcomes)
Heading	Dog	Puppy	Cat	Kitten	Wildlife	Other	Total
Live Release Rate	91.7%	95.8%	91.5%	88.1%	35.7%	96.6%	89.7%

196 or 34.3% of animals were adopted.

152 or 26.6% of animals were reclaimed by their owners. The majority of animals represented in these outcomes were dogs with a license and/or microchip for owner-contact.

162 or 28.4% of animals were transferred to another agency.

52 or 9.1% of animals were humanely euthanized, including cases of injured wildlife, injured or severely sick cats and kittens, and other domestic animals at the recommendation of a veterinarian, or for behavioral issues which would make an animal unsafe to place back into the community. Cat intake is officially limited to cases where the cat is sick or injured, or in immediate danger due to cruelty, neglect, and similar circumstances, and kittens over six weeks old. There is decreased intake volume for cats, and an increased percentage of veterinary-recommended euthanasia for adult cats due to these intake conditions.

2 cats, or 0.4% of animals were returned to field at the location where they were found. 7 animals or 1.2% of animals died in care, including 6 kittens, and 1 fowl.

Outcome Type	Dog	Puppy	Cat	Kitten	Wildlife	Other	Total
Adopted	66	3	54	70	1	2	196
Reclaimed/returned to owner	109	10	24	8	0	1	152
Transferred to another agency	14	10	39	70	4	25	162
Euthanized	17	1	11	14	9	0	52
Return to field	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Unassisted death	0	0	0	6	0	1	7
Other outcomes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	206	24	130	168	14	29	571

Transfers

MCAS transferred 28.4% of shelter animals to other shelters and rescues. Thank you to our community partners for your lifesaving work.

Cat Adoption Team
Oregon Humane Society
Rabbit Advocates
Harmony New Beginnings Animal Rescue
Pets On Broadway
Theresa's Country Feed And Pet Supply
Hiss and Hers Herp Hobbies
Stumptown Strays
Furfriends Animal Rescue Inc
Second Chance Companions
Humane Society Of Southwest Washington
Family Dogs New Life Shelter
Portland Audubon

Volunteers

Foster volunteer hours increased for kitten season, and increased support for long-term resident dogs to provide respite from shelter kennels.

Volunteer Roles	Volunteers	Hours
Cats	7	64
Cleaning	26	199
Dogs	26	391
Events	0	0
Foster Animals	114	6,219
Info Desk	6	115
Laundry	16	171
Transport	2	11
Other (Office, surgery, reserve officer, etc.)	4	40
Total*	182	7,209

*Unique volunteers - many volunteers serve in multiple roles.

Online Resources

Many services provided by MCAS are accessible online, at multcopets.org. Members of the public can search for adoptable or lost / found pets, license their pets, and learn about other resources and news. MCAS website pages are translated into four languages.

Page Views
Adoptable Pets	148,794
Lost & Found Pets	54,040
Home Page Visits	19,324
Licensing Resources	17,953
News & Updates	7,907
Low-Cost Services	5,156
Kitten Resources	353
Field Services	4,288
Volunteering	1,689
Other Pages	37,993
Total	297,497

Field Services

Field Services officers responded to 675 urgent needs of community members and their pets, investigated cases of potential cruelty or neglect, loose-aggressive animals, bites, and picked up stray, injured, abandoned, potentially dangerous, or deceased animals. Officers also responded to non-urgent calls such as barking dogs, animal trespass, and other community issues.

Dispatch Category	Count	Percentage
Deceased Animal Pickup	68	10%
Stray Animal	97	14%
Suspected Cruelty / Neglect	106	16%
Loose aggressive animal (Animals actively charging, attacking, or chasing people or animals)	73	11%
Bite Investigation	80	12%
Loose animal	47	7%
Injured Animal	17	3%
Abandoned Animal	22	3%
Animal Placed in Protective Custody	35	5%
Wildlife	62	9%
Other	68	10%
Total	675	100%