Kathy Davis presented on the changes made at the Animal Care Services (ACS) department in San Antonio that transformed it from having a 10% live release rate in 2006 to an 86% live release rate in 2014. The presentation outlined the revised strategic plan developed in 2011, which focused on programs like Trap-Neuter-Return for cats, a high-volume pet partner program, and increased spay/neuter services. Community partnerships were also key to the successful programs that increased adoptions, rescues, and the live release rate while decreasing animal intake and euthanasia. The presentation concluded by noting the national recognition ACS has received for its transformation into a "no kill" shelter.

1. Presented by: Kathy Davis
AmPets Alive Conference
Austin, Texas
February 24, 2014
CHANGING
EVERYTHING

2. • History
• Revised Strategic Plan
• Successful Programs
• Questions
Agenda
2

3. History
3

4. FY 2004 ACS Snapshot
• “San Antonio faces a grim reality: It kills more
animals per capita than any other major city in the
country.”
Source: San Antonio Express News
• Between 40,000-50,000 dogs and cats
euthanized annually via gas chamber
4

5. FY 2006 ACS Snapshot
“Woefully behind the times, overseen by officials
with no plan for promoting adoptions or reducing the
number of unwanted animals coming through its
doors and few designs for bringing in volunteers or
partnering with animal rescue groups.”
Source: San Antonio Express News
5

6. FY 2006 ACS Snapshot
• More than 44,000 pets impounded
– 4,912 Adoptions, RTOs,
and Rescue pulls
• Only 225 pets rescued
– Poor working relationship
with Advisory Board
- Contention Relationship
with Rescue Community
- 10% Live Release Rate
– 90% were euthanized
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7. FY 2011 ACS Snapshot
• Increased Live Release Rate to 30%
– Strategic Plan called for 70% by FY 2012
• Few other Strategic Plan Goals attained
• High Management Turnover
– 5 Directors in 6 years
• Brought in City’s Innovation
Group to revise and update
Strategic Plan
7

8. Revised
Strategic Plan
8

9. Conflicting Voices
“Too many
stray dogs on
the streets!”
9

10. Best Practices and Research
• Innovation researched best practices and
programs from other successful
organizations
• Did not limit search to finding the
“perfect” program, but elements of
different programs that were successful
and could be adapted to our community
10

11. Revised Strategic Plan
Enforcement
Live
Release
Stray
Animal
Control
Enhanced Enforcement
– Faster response to priority calls
– Better enforcement of existing codes
– New codes to address current challenges
Controlling the Stray Population
– Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR)
– Spay/Neuter Partners
Increasing the Live Release Rate
– High Volume Pet Partner
– Adoption, Rescue, Return to Owner
11

12. Successful
Programs:
Building a Better
Department
12

13. Department Overview
Office of
the Director
Administration Field Shelter Clinic Live Release
Start Thinking Differently
Business Office (not Admin.), Law Enforcement (not Field), Hotel
(not shelter), Hospital(not Clinic), Retail Store (not Live Release)
FY13 Intake: 30,000 dogs & cats
Total Authorized Positions: 130 13

14. Building a Better Department
• Process Experts coupled with existing Subject Matter experts
• Shelter Operations Manager
– Masters in Public Administration
• Live Release Manager
– Masters in Public Administration, Lean Trained
Statistic 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Adoptions 2,388 2,831 3,381 2,702 2,895 4,336 6,101 7,165
Rescued 225 1,484 3,858 2,574 2,234 2,936 11,875 11,900
Fostered N/A N/A 728 746 1,143 1,485 1,415 2,075
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15. Building a Better Department
• Chief Veterinarian
– Cornell Graduate
• Clinic Manager
– Masters in Public Administration with 5 years Budget
Dept. Experience, Lean Trained, Green Belt
Statistic FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013
S/N
Surgeries
7,639 8,795 11,086 17,500
15

16. Successful
Programs:
Partners
who
Participate
16

17. Community Partnerships
Community
Partnership is more
than community
engagement.
Engagement seeks
input and keeps
people informed.
Partnership requires
community to participate
in solution.
San Antonio
Animal Care
Services
San Antonio
Pets Alive! University
of Texas at
San Antonio
Best Friends
& PetSmart
PetCo
San Antonio
Area
Foundation
5 Local Spay
& Neuter
Partners
San Antonio
Humane
Society
Over 500
Local
Volunteers
Over 300+
local Rescue
& Foster
Partners
Animal
Defense
League
ACS
Advisory
Board
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18. Background:
- In FY 2012, ACS submitted a RFI to
solicit ideas for a potential HVPP
- Based on unique responses, staff
formulated contractual partnership
with 9 local rescue entities for the
rescue of 7,000 additional animals
annually
FY 2012 & 2013 Results:
- HVPP Initiative resulted in the rescue
of over 9,800 pets from HVPPs (11,716
total rescued) in FY12 and 10,000
(11,900 total rescued) in FY13
- Over 70+ additional rescue groups
regularly pulling pets
HVPP
(High Volume Pet Partner)
Partner 1
San
Antonio
Humane
Society
Partner 2
San
Antonio
Pets Alive!
(SAPA!)
Up to
7,000
Additional
Animals
Rescued /
Adopted Partner 3
Local
Rescue
Partners
18

19. FY 2013 HVPP & RPIP
Programs
PET RESCUED FUNDING STRATEGY
($50.00 PER QUALIFYING PET)
RESCUE
PROG.
PARTNER
INDIVIDUAL
BASELINE
QUALIFYING
PETS
TOTAL
RESCUES
PETS
PULLED
GENERAL
FUND
PETCO
DONATIONS
TOTAL
FUNDING
HVPP
SAN ANTONIO
PETS ALIVE! 700 4,000 4,700 5,533 $100,000 $100,000 $200,000
HUMANE SOCIETY 500 2,000 2,500 2,407 100,000 100,000
RPIP
ANIMAL DEFENSE
LEAGUE 400 315 715 727 15,750 15,750
ARF 90 100 190 215 5,000 5,000
AWSBC 150 80 230 235 4,000 4,000
CARE 155 55 210 322 2,750 2,750
MISSY'S HAVEN 120 100 220 325 5,000 5,000
SNIPSA 180 150 330 380 7,500 7,500
TRACY'S DOGS 127 200 327 228 10,000 10,000
TOTAL 2,422 7,000 9,422 10,372 $250,000 $100,000 $350,000
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20. Spay & Neuter Services
• Over 17,500 In-House Surgeries
performed; close to 26,000 surgeries
performed including partner
surgeries
– Average of 335 surgeries per week
– 58% more than FY 2012
• $500,000 for free surgeries to
community pets
– 22 targeted zip codes based upon
intake, service calls, dead pet pick-up
– 5 spay/neuter partners
– Equates to over 9,400 free surgeries
• Over 55,000 S/N Surgeries in FY 13 by
all major s/n providers
8,795
11,086
17,500
-
5,000
10,000
15,000
In-House Surgeries
FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013
20

21. CNSI
(Comprehensive Neighborhood Sweeps Initiative)
21
FY 2013
27,348 Homes Visited with
Free S/N Flyers
2,503 Free Rabies/Licenses
thru shot clinic
156 Violations Issued
562 Impoundments
515 Volunteers
1,545 Volunteer Hours
• Partnership with UTSA

22. Media Campaign
 Year 2 of bilingual marketing
campaign
 Increased focus on responsible pet
ownership
 Resulted in more than 794 media
interactions in FY 2013 (376 in FY 2012)
 Message was viewed/heard over 12
million times
 Innovative Partnerships
 SA Missions Baseball
 Annual Food Truck Throwdown
 City’s “Downtown Tuesdays”
22

23. Successful
Programs:
What about
CATS?
23

24. Trap Neuter and Return
(TNR)
 Partnered with Best Friends to establish
TNR program in FY12 in targeted Zip
Codes. FY 11 = 24% LRR for Cats.
 Provides additional live outcome
options for cats by returning s/n feral
cats to original location.
 More than 9,000 surgeries performed
since April 2012 (1 yr, 8 months).
 Cat Intake has reduced by 868 cats in 1st
4 months of FY14 – 84% LRR!
2
TRAP
1
RETURN
3
NEUTER
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25. TNR Expansion
• Expanded the successful Best Friends TNR
program into all City Zip Codes
– Increased cat Live Release rate from 24% in FY11
to 79% in FY13 (now 84%)
– Monthly Live Release rate
for healthy and treatable cats
is nearly 100%
– Helped reduced annual cat
intake by 2,000 bet. FY12 & 13
25

26. Increased Adoptions
• Improved marketing of pets via
Petharbor, Facebook, and Craigslist
• SAPA heavily markets our pets
• Change of internal processes that increased
face time between customer and ACS staff
• Directed resources towards programs and
activities that maximize live outcomes
– Off-site adoptions
• Increased number of pet adoptions by over
60% in past 2 years
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27. Increased Adoptions
27
• Converted Pet Store – first in Texas!
– Now carries ACS Shelter Pets
– Partnered with
HSUS
– Taken more
than 120 pets
since August
2013.

28. Increased Adoptions
• Amended Stray Hold time to allow pets with live release to leave
1 day early (no change to stray hold for pets without a live
outcome).
• Improved internal Microchip RTO program to get pets home
quicker – PetEx!
• Implemented strategies for max. space
– Code Yellow/Code Red; Clinic Pickups
• Utilizing 4 Petco/Petsmart locations
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29. Foster Video
29

30. Other Programs
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• City built a $5 million Adoption Center &
S/N Clinic built at Brackenridge
– Adoption Center operated by SAPA – required
to pull 3,000 pets annually
– S/N Clinic – operated by PetShotz – required to
complete 8,000 surgeries/annually
• City is building a $2.2 million building
kennels on ADL property
– 25 year Contract to pull 3,184 dogs/annually

31. Other Programs
• PASS Program (Positive Alternatives for Shelter
Surrender) – Partnership with SAPA
• Weekly Low-Cost Vaccination Clinic
• Pet Pantry
– More than 25,000 pounds provided
this year
• School Education Program
– Visited 170 schools last year
• Summer Camp for 10-14 year olds
31

32. Live Release Rate
Original Strategic Plan
developed to make “No
Kill” a reality
FY2006
10%
ACS 3 years ahead of
schedule with new
approach
FY2013
Live Release Rate
Euthanasia Rate 77%
Strategic Plan revised with
key priorities and
strategies
FY2011
30%
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33. Live Release Rate today
33
•January 2014
–86% for All Pets!
–93% for
Healthy/Treatable Pets!

34. ACS Recognition
• NACA News
• Humane Society of US
• Best Friends
• San Antonio Woman
• International City/County
Management Association
(ICMA)
• Wall Street Journal
NATIONAL AWARDS
• 2012 ASPCA $100K Rachael
Ray Challenge Winner
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
• Alliance for Innovation
• Texas Unites
• Texas Animal Control Association
• ICMA
MAGAZINE FEATURES
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35. Questions ?
kathy.davis@sanantonio.gov
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