Managed Admission

We take it as a given in many service contexts that businesses run more efficiently, and better service is provided, when some management or scheduling process is in place to ensure capacity exists to meet customers’ needs.

Anyone who has waited for hours in the crowded lobby of an urgent care facility can resonate with the idea that non-scheduled service is a good choice only when no other option exists. For non-urgent matters, most all of us would prefer the scheduled process of going to the doctor’s office for an appointment only when we can be seen soon after arrival (and wait in a comfortable, uncrowded lobby in the meanwhile).

Many shelters are experienced with this principle in the context of spay/neuter surgery. Even though this is an urgently desired outcome, we understand that it is better to wait until surgical staffing exists to ensure a safe procedure. Likewise, we value the time of the surgical team and recognize that an unpredictable schedule means sometimes these staff will be under-utilized while at other times they will be overwhelmed. Scheduling surgery does not lower the number of procedures a clinic can perform, it simply smooths out fluctuations and allows more effective planning. Flexibility can be left in the schedule to allow emergencies to be accommodated.

Although unscheduled admission has been the norm for many shelters in North America, the same principle applies to this as for scheduling spay/neuter surgery. Animals and people are better served when intake is matched with capacity for care and the ability to assure an appropriate outcome for each animal within a reasonable time frame. “Managed admission” refers to any steps taken by a shelter to provide this assurance.

There are many ways in which shelters of any type can choose to manage admission. Even shelters obliged to take all animals that come their way, whether by law, contract or policy, have choices about when and how those animals are admitted. This could be as simple as closing night drop boxes, or allowing non-emergency animals to be brought in only when staff is present to complete paperwork, evaluate the animal’s health and place the animal in a safe, clean environment.

At the other end of the spectrum, some shelters have developed a detailed interview process to place animals on the right path from the outset. In some cases, scheduled intake is combined with extensive counseling and support to provide alternatives and keep the pet in its home or habitat.

In other shelters, there is no change to the intake process except that it is by appointment rather than on a walk-in basis. Even in these cases, simple web-based resources can provide alternatives to surrender while the shelter can be better prepared to handle the animals that still do come in.

Scheduling intake in itself can be complex or simple, often depending on the overall volume handled by the shelter. Some shelters simply use a paper calendar and call people for appointments as space opens up. Others use purpose-built software for intake scheduling.

A detailed description of one shelter’s intake scheduling process, along with the director’s rationale for implementing this program, can be found here. (Check out the step-by-step guide to the right of the article for details.)

Animals may be admitted in strict chronological order or the admission of “fast track” versus “slow track” may be balanced with space available for animals in these two categories. For more information on intake decision making and fast track/slow track, see this article.

In particular, it is often a good idea to give intake priority to young kittens ahead of adult cats. This prevents these cute youngsters from growing to a less adoptable stage while waiting for an appointment, and often these kittens will be placed very quickly, making room for another kitten or cat in the shelter.

Of course, regardless of scheduling policy, some provision must always be made to allow for emergencies in which immediate intake is indicated. However, these exceptions may prove less frequent than expected – many shelters that have implemented scheduled intake have been pleasantly surprised at the relative lack of public resistance, especially after people have had a few weeks to get used to the new policy.

For a great example of how one shelter communicated the rationale and details of their managed admission policy, check out Animal Humane New Mexico’s friendly and informative video here.

While managed admissions can be a good choice for any pet species, it applies particularly well to cats. We now know that only a tiny fraction of cats in a community are admitted to a shelter on any given day – far less than 1 percent of the overall free-roaming cat population.

If you’re curious, you can do the math for your own community. A recent study that compiled a number of smaller studies concluded that there are about 30-80 million un-owned cats in the United States, which equates to one cat for every 4-10 people (mid-point is one per every seven people). In Canada, the number of un-owned cats is estimated at 1.4 – 4.2 million or around one cat per 8.3 – 24.9 (mid-point of one per 16.6 people).

If you know the size of the population served by your shelter, you can estimate the number of un-owned cats out and about on a given day by dividing the population by the mid-point number or either end of the range that makes sense to you.

For a U.S. community, divide the human population by 7 for the midpoint; in Canada, divide the human population by 16.6.

If you’re in the U.S. but you’re awfully close to Canada and you think that data more likely applies, go ahead and choose those figures. If you want a more detailed graphic that also accounts for the presence of outdoor pet cats in the community, you can use either the U.S. or Canada version of the “Outdoor cat population calculator”.

You only need to compare the population of cats out and about in your community to the number of cats in your shelter on the most crowded day to realize a liberating truth: admitting a few more, or a few less cats, will have no impact on the overall risks caused or suffered by cats in the community, but an enormous impact on the shelter’s ability to ensure capacity for care.

There is also far more seasonal fluctuation for cats than for other species commonly handled by shelters. It makes little sense to admit a healthy, friendly adult cat to sit in the shelter for weeks or months while “mount kitten” surges through, when that same cat could wait in relative safety and comfort in his home or habitat for admission and re-homing once the wave of kittens has passed.

While managed intake can be combined with alternatives to intake or limited admission, it need not be. Managed intake can be used synergistically with capacity for care, regulating the population to ensure cats are provided with the conditions needed to stay healthy and happy. Happy, healthy cats in turn tend to move through the shelter more quickly, and good conditions and care for cats engage higher levels of volunteer and community support.

All these happy trends can combine to allow more cats to be served over time, whether that service keeps the cat safely in its home or habitat, prevents an unwanted litter, or leads to admission of a cat in need of rehoming. Ultimately, many shelters have found that far from limiting intake, more cats can be admitted over time while more cats are also served in the community.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Kathie Johnson of the Animal Humane Society in Minneapolis and Bob Marotto of Orange County Animal Services in for their pioneering work with development and implementation of the “Feline Evaluation for Adoption” tool.