Cats in Los Angeles - Humane Society of the United States• To “solve” the challenge, would likely need to handle more like 80% of population over 3 -5 year period – 80% X 1.1M

December 3, 2012

Cats in Los Angeles

Aimee Gilbreath

© 2008 Found Animals Foundation 1

About Found Animals Foundation Mission: Minimize Shelter Euthanasia

Sterilization Adoption Owner Support

More information at www.foundanimals.org

http://www.foundanimals.org/

© 2008 Found Animals Foundation

Contents

• Cat Population Estimates

• Shelter Cat Data

• Implications


Los Angeles County Overview Population:

• Los Angeles County: 9.81 million • City of Los Angeles: 3.79 million

Economic Characteristics:

• Median Household Income: $54,635 • Families Below Poverty Level: 13.7%

Demographics: • Hispanic/Latino: 48% • White: 28% • Asian: 13% • African-American: 8% • 57% speak a language other than

English at Home • 76% have a high school diploma • 29% have a Bachelor’s Degree

Los Angeles County consists of: • 88 Incorporated Cities • 125 Unincorporated Communities


Even City of LA not Contiguous

West Hollywood & Beverly Hills

Santa Monica

Culver City

Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, etc.

Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, etc.

Lynnwood, Compton, Carson, etc.

Downey, Bell Gardens, Southgate, etc.

Commerce, Montebello, etc.

http://www.laalmanac.com/LA/lamap2.htm


Los Angeles County Municipalities


Owned Cat Population Estimates Los Angeles County

2.84 Million Households

* 30% Cat Ownership Rate

=

* 1.75 – 2.0 Cats Per Household

1,493,000 – 1,706,000 Owned Cats

Or roughly 1 owned cat per 6 people

http://www.foundanimals.org/docs/pdfs/la-dog-cat-population.pdf

http://www.foundanimals.org/docs/pdfs/la-dog-cat-population.pdf


“Feral” Cat Population Estimates Based on PetSmart Charities Grant Guidelines

Began with assumption: 1 feral cat per 6 humans 1,635,000 feral cats

Later changed to: 1 feral cat per 15 humans 654,000 feral cats


2,744,000

8

Total LA County Cat Pop. Estimates Midpoint estimate 2.7 M Cats, or roughly 1 per 3.5 humans

Owned Cats “Feral” Cats Total Cats

Low Estimate

1,493,000

654,000

2,147,000

High Estimate

1,706,000

1,635,000

3,341,000

1,144,500

1,599,500


Subsidized S/N Capacity Has Grown Dramatically

27,000

66,000

89,000

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

Est. 2005 Est. 2010 Est 2012

S/N

Sur

gerie

s

LA Metro Subsidized S/N Capacity

Up 144%

Up 35%

•Likely 15 - 20K surgeries are related to TNR

•1.3 -1.7% of mid-point feral population estimate


Contents



• Implications


Complicated Animal Services Landscape City, County, and SEAACA Serve 89% of Population

A total of 9 agencies with 20 shelter locations provide municipal animal services within Los Angeles County • Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control

• Agoura, Baldwin Park, Carson, Castaic, Downey, and Lancaster • City of Los Angeles Animal Services

• East Valley, Harbor, North Central, South Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, West Valley, and Northeast Valley

• Other City operated shelters • City of Santa Monica, City of Burbank, and City of Long Beach

• Private organizations holding municipal contracts • SEAACA, Pasadena Humane Society, SPCA LA, San Gabriel

Valley Humane Society, Inland Valley Humane Society


Shelter Intake is 164,000 Pets Annually 85,000 Killed, 52% Euthanasia Rate

138 162 162 163 164

55 67 69 71 73

72 88 86 87 85

0

40

80

120

160

200

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Num

ber o

f Ani

mal

s (K

)

LA Metro Intake and Outcomes Live Intake Live Release Euthanized

Source: Shelter intake and outcome data from LA City, LA County, and SEAACA


Dogs Twice as Likely to be Adopted, Cats Twice as Likely to be Euthanized

12% 46% 38% 4%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dogs

% of Live Intake

Return to Owner Adopted Euthanized Other

Source: 2011 Shelter intake and outcome data from LA City, LA County, and SEAACA

1% 22% 73% 4%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Cats

% of Live Intake

Return to Owner Adopted Euthanized Other


2.9% of Cat Pop. Handled Annually 71,000 Cats Handled, 73% Euthanized

65

78 75 73 71

16 16 15 15 17

45

58 55 55 51

0

20

40

60

80

100

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Num

ber o

f Ani

mal

s (K

)

Cat Intake and Outcomes

Live Intake Live Release Euthanized

Source: Shelter intake and outcome data from LA City, LA County, and SEAACA

71,000 cats handled by shelters per year:

• 7.8 cats/1,000 humans

• 2.9% of midpoint cat population estimate

• 1 out of every 34 cats each year


Normalized Intake Varies By Agency

6.0 8.5

17.0

0

6

12

18

Agency A Agency B Agency C

2011 Cat Intake per 1,000 Human Population


What Could Explain Variance?

Cat Intake/1,000 Pop Med. HH Income Bachelor’s or higher (%) Race (%) • White • Asian • Black • Hispanic Cat Policy • Can Trap? • Rent Traps? • Intake Trapped? • Pickup Trapped? • Cat Dispatch?

% of Cat Pop Handled*

Agency A

6.0

$54,108

30

33 12 9 43

Y Y Y N N

1.7

Agency C

17.0

$56,169

17

16 10 5 68

Y Y Y Y Y

5.9

Agency B

8.5

$60,606

29

26 15 10 44

Y Y Y N N

3.0

* Assumes even distribution of cats across agencies at 1 per 3.5 humans


20% 21% 26%

33%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%

"Feral" Unweaned Kittens Adult Tame

Agency B Cat Intake by Category – 2011

17

2/3 of Intake Related to Outdoor Cats

Related to Outdoor Cats


3% 4% 30% 31%

90% 96% 68% 66%

7% 1% 2% 3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

"Feral" Unweaned Kittens Adult Tame

Agency B Cat Outcomes– 2011 Live Relase Euthanized Other

18

Vast Majority of Outdoor Cat Related Intake is Euthanized


100%

118%

112%

105% 101%

90%

100%

110%

120%

130%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Agency B Indexed Cat Intake 2007 – 2011

19

High Per Capita Intake and Euthanasia Not Producing Significant Impact


26%

56%

18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

"Feral" Unweaned + Kittens Adult Tame

Agency C Cat Intake by Category – 2011

20

>80% Intake Related to Outdoor Cats

Related to Outdoor Cats


9% 8% 10% 10% 11%

90% 91% 90% 89% 89%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Agency C Cat Outcomes 2007 – 2011 Live Relase Euthanized

21

Nearly All Cat Intake Euthanized


100%

126% 136% 131% 132%

90%

100%

110%

120%

130%

140%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Agency C Indexed Cat Intake 2007 – 2011

22

Again. . High Per Capita Intake and Euthanasia Not Producing Results


Contents



• Implications


A Different Approach is Needed Current Activities Do Not Have Desired Impact

• Majority of LA metro shelter intake of cats is already related to outdoor cats

– ⅔ to ¾ of total cat intake depending on agency

• Existing “catch and kill” shelter policies are not decreasing intake

– >70% euthanasia rate for all cats, often >90% of intake related to outdoor cats

• Spending $10’s of millions of tax dollars annually

– Three major agencies have total annual budget of $55M, cats account for 43% of intake and 59% of euthanasia


Better Results Will Require Handling Many, Many More Cats

• Currently activities only handle 5-7% of feral cat population each year

– 60K annual “feral” intakes ÷1.1 M midpoint of “feral” population = 5%

– If you add 20K TNRs, 7.3% of population handled annually

• To “solve” the challenge, would likely need to handle more like 80% of population over 3-5 year period

– 80% X 1.1M cats = 880K cats ÷ 3-5 years = 180 - 290K cats per year

– 2 - 4 times the current handling capacity of public + private system

• Handling up to 4x as many cats (that don’t want to be handled) will require massive resources, mostly human


Portfolio Approach Needed

Public Agencies

Private Organizations

Lethal Methods Non-Lethal Methods

Documents

Cats in Los Angeles - Humane Society of the United States• To “solve” the challenge, would likely need to handle more like 80% of population over 3 -5 year period – 80% X 1.1M