Analysis of Animal Shelter
Operating Hours
November 2014
Background
As part of ongoing program changes to implement the City Council’s directive to increase positive outcomes for pets at the Moreno Valley Animal Shelter, the operating schedule was modified to expand weekend hours. The schedule was modified to provide service on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. (Prior to that point, the Shelter was closed every Friday and Sunday). The new schedule was promoted extensively, with publicity efforts including:
- “Sticky Note” ads in the Press-Enterprise delivered to 15,000 subscribers in Moreno Valley
- Half Page advertisement in Your Villa Moreno Valley
- Utility Bill stuffers
- Screen Vision – Ads running before movies at Harkins Theaters for 8 weeks
- Flyers/Posters at City facilities
- CityLink electronic newsletter
- News Releases
- Chamber of Commerce and various community meetings
- Beacon military publication (also advertised military discounts)
- 30-second videos on YouTube • Announcements and ads shown at City Council meetings
- City website postings
- Auto Mall sign message
- MVTV 3
- Soaring (City’s Recreation Guide)
- “Dogzilla” the huge inflatable on top of the Shelter facility
Analysis
Staff has carefully monitored the results of the new operating hours to assure that we are making best use of our resources to increase adoptions and thereby drive down the euthanasia rate in accordance with City Council directives.
Review of the statistical information for revenue generated and positive outcomes achieved clearly indicates that Sunday has been the least productive open day at the Animal Shelter.
Productivity is measured by positive outcomes which include pet lives saved through adoptions, return to owners and adoptions by rescue groups. The table below shows the average number of positive outcomes for each day of the week since implementation.
Animal Shelter Revenues and Positive Outcomes |
||
Day |
Avg. Number of |
Avg. Daily Revenues |
Sunday |
10 |
$ 765 |
Monday |
16 |
$ 2,027 |
Wednesday |
21 |
$ 2,637 |
Friday |
21 |
$ 2,452 |
Saturday |
19 |
$ 2,092 |
Staff then reviewed data from the six months prior to the schedule change in order to analyze outcomes and revenues for Tuesdays and Thursdays. That data is summarized below:
Animal Shelter Revenues and Positive Outcomes |
||
Day |
Avg. Number of |
Avg. Daily Revenues |
Tuesday |
15 |
$ 2,163 |
Thursday |
13 |
$ 1,914 |
The data above prompted a strong recommendation from the Animal Services Division and Administrative Services Department to further refine the Shelter schedule to increase the number of positive outcomes.
The City Manager approved staff recommendations to close the Shelter on Sundays (the least productive day of the week) and Mondays and re-open on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Based upon historical data presented above, positive outcomes on Tuesdays/Thursdays exceed those derived on Sundays/Mondays by nearly 8%.
Advantages to close on Mondays include:
- The Animal Shelter will be closed consecutive days, Sunday and Monday, rather than splitting the closure days which has proven to be very confusing to the public.
- In addition to currently being closed Tuesdays and Thursdays, the shelter is closed an additional four days due to Monday holidays. By adopting a regular Monday closure, we avoid losing those additional four days of public service.
- Consecutive closure days simplifies calculation of animal holding periods and in some cases reduces the overall holding period allowing animals to exit sooner.
- Better utilization of staff, scheduling becomes more efficient with consecutive days closed.
Looking Ahead
Based upon historical statistics above, staff conservatively projects that the new schedule will save the lives of 142 additional pets during calendar year 2015.
It will also likely generate an additional $70,000 in associated operating revenues to support care for shelter pets.
To further promote adoptions, the Military Discount Program (now offered on Sundays only) will apply every day the Animal Shelter is open.
Staff will continue to closely monitor the effectiveness of the revised schedule (along with all other program activities) to ensure that the Council’s Policy direction - - to increase adoptions and increase the number of pet lives saved - - is carried out. The City will continue to explore potential funding sources to restore Shelter services to their pre-recession level of Monday-Saturday of each week.