At this time of year, many animal lovers will be considering where to make their holiday donation. With so much talk of under-performing pounds and a new wave of animal rescue groups saving lives, it can be hard for those outside the industry to keep up. How can you tell the ‘good’ from the ‘bad’? Does smaller always equal better? And just how should you spend your yearly animal welfare donation this year?
The first step is to understand the difference between pounds, shelters and community rescue groups and their role in the community.
Pounds are the council funded holding facilities for stray and impounded pets. Pounds are owned and used by a single council, or may contract their services out to many councils. They generally don’t fund raise, but they do often use volunteers who may form a non-profit to support them (this is a good sign that they are working with the community to bring about good outcomes for pets), or work with local rescue groups. The performance of pounds is often dictated by pressure from their local community. Many pounds are small and regional, some are centralised and huge. Many pounds are running low kill or No Kill facilities, with good examples here and here.
Shelters are privately managed facilities that work to provide shelter for transient pets. Some contract local council pound services for a fee, others operate entirely to take pets who have run out of time at the local pound and private surrenders. They can be very large, or small. Some are part of a bigger chain of shelters (like the RSPCA or Lost Dogs Home), or they can be independent and local. Their performance is often dictated by the pressures of their local community, but also the capacity and direction of their management. They are non-profit or charity organisations that generally run ongoing fundraising programs. Some shelters run low or No Kill facilities, others kill more pets than they save.
Community rescue or foster groups are small groups of pet-lovers who work together to save pets in their local area. Often working with pounds and shelters to take pets, they keep animals in their homes until new families can be found. Some are very small (a single person or a few friends) or they can have up to 1,000 carers all working together. They often form where there is little support to save the lives of pets (regional locations) or where there is a direct need for more community involvement because of high kill rates. Community rescue groups generally take treatable pets and hold them until new homes can be found, meaning they are low or No kill.
If your usual plan is to give to whomever sends you the first fundraising mail, you may not be investing in the most efficient and effective animal welfare group. There are a few details you’ll want to get before parting with your hard earned cash, that will help you choose.
1. Check their performance
Most of the larger animal shelters produce an annual report which includes their activities for the year. As a side to their community involvement, one of the most important factors is one they don’t necessarily want you to focus on. Just two numbers; their animal rehome rate vs their euthanasia (kill) rate.
They may try to distract you by using overall statistics, or they might not provide these numbers at all. But the reason they are so important is thus – these figures show what happens to the animals left, after owners have picked up lost pets. What a shelter or pound does with an animal who isn’t collected is a vital indicator of their performance. They can either work to save it, or kill it.
A healthy pet should be adopted to a new family or passed onto rescue. A treatable pet should be rehabilitated, then made available for adoption. In instances where the rehome rate is the same size, or smaller than the kill rate, there is an indication that the shelter is not taking its responsibility to save lives seriously.
Before you donate to a shelter, you should ask to be given these figures or look them up in their annual report. If they aren’t very impressive, use this year’s donation as an opportunity to provide feedback to the organisation’s management;
Dear XXX,
I have been a donor to your organisation for X years. I have seen that this year your rehome rate was XXX while your kill rate was XXX, an unacceptably high rate.
I believe that all healthy and treatable pets should be given a chance to find a new, loving family. I give my donation this year in the hope that you will use it to improve the situation for pets at your shelter, so that next year you can report a low kill or No Kill outcome for pets.
2. Weigh up your options
You might decide based on the information you find, that you want to support a different organisation this year. With community rescue groups growing in status like never before, it is a good opportunity to investigate who else is operating in your local area.
A great place to start is PetRescue’s Rescue Group Directory. Over 75% of the groups using PetRescue are small, independent community rescue groups. You can examine the animals they have been working with, how long they’ve been operating and skip through to their own websites to find out if they’re calling for donations. Most of these groups also have a Facebook page which you can follow to keep up to date on their news (and maybe even get involved yourself!). Check out case studies and try and meet with the group at an event to find out more about their programs and level of professionalism.
It goes without saying, the more resources these smaller groups have, the more good work they can do for pets in the community. While they probably won’t have a fundraising department, or send you glossy newsletters, you’ll know your money is going directly to help animals.
3. Show your support for No Kill
If no one in your local area takes your fancy, you could use your donation this year as an opportunity to further the No Kill movement in Australia. In every state there are No Kill shelters not only saving the lives of pets, but helping other groups reach their own No Kill goals. (If you haven’t got a background on No Kill, try downloading this pdf to see the kinds of programs that a No Kill shelter supports).
To find No Kill organisations, google “No Kill” and your state.
By supporting the groups ‘leading the way’ in innovation and lifesaving programs, you are investing in long term improvements for homeless animals.
This year, don’t just do what you’ve always done. Use your xmas gift as an opportunity to improve outcomes and support those groups who are saving lives.
There has never been a better time to be an empowered supporter.
See also: The Foundation for the Charismatic, Good Looking, Healthy Homeless
