October 9, 2007 

The HSUS

Damian Anti, Slidell Animal Control director (Slidell, La.), illustrates high high  the water rose during Katrina.

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Gulf Coast area continues to struggle with a large pet overpopulation problem.

Even before they were destroyed or damaged by the tremendous storms, most shelters were struggling with a daily influx of abandoned dogs and cats and stray populations that exceed the rates that many northern shelters experience.

Unique Challenges on the Gulf Coast

It is widely believed that a key to bringing the number of unwanted animals down is to increase spay-neuter rates. National estimates indicate that approximately 70 percent of owned dogs and 84 percent of owned cats are spayed or neutered. But according to a recent HSUS telephone survey, in Louisiana and Mississippi, only 51 percent of owned dogs and 77 percent of owned cats are spayed or neutered.

When considered alongside stray populations, these lower rates of pet spay/neuter likely are a major factor in the high rates of animal relinquishment and abandonment in these states.

The animal care and control community's ability to carry out its broad work as well as cope with the impact of disasters is adversely affected by the day-to-day burdens that Gulf Coast sheltering facilities face in dealing with an estimated 230,000 abandoned dogs and cats each year.

The After Katrina Project

To bring down the unwanted pet population, we must first understand the barriers to achieving higher rates of spay/neuter—both practical and attitudinal.

Rather than pour money into outreach campaigns that may not be effective, the "After Katrina" project seeks to identify—through social marketing research techniques—which Louisiana and Mississippi pet owners are not spaying/neutering, why they are not inclined to alter their pets, what messages are most likely to influence them to change their behavior, and what messengers and media are most credible to effectively deliver that message.

The elements of this comprehensive research project include:

• Determining the prevalence of pet ownership in Louisiana and Mississippi;
• Assessing Louisiana's and Mississippi's baseline pet overpopulation problem;
• Identifying basic attitudes toward spay/neuter and adoption;
• Identifying target audiences for qualitative research;
• Reviewing available research on adoption and spay/neuter marketing;
• Engaging local stakeholders including shelters, animal rescue and spay/neuter organizations, and private practice veterinarians;
• Leading in-depth focus groups with target audiences;
• Conducting comprehensive telephone surveys with targeted audiences;
• Conducting interviews and surveys with veterinarians;
• Developing the social marketing outreach strategy; and
• Creating a blueprint for future research. 
   

©Maddie's Fund

Maddie was a miniature schnauzer whose unconditional love, devotion, loyalty and spirit inspired the genesis of Maddie's Fund.

The Partnership with Maddie's Fund®

Maddie's Fund® is funded by PeopleSoft and Workday Founder Dave Duffield, and his wife, Cheryl. With the Duffields' backing of more than $300 million, Maddie's Fund is working to create a no-kill nation where all healthy and treatable shelter cats and dogs are guaranteed a loving home.

To achieve this goal, the foundation directs its resources towards creating successful models of community lifesaving; pioneering shelter medicine programs in veterinary schools; enlisting private practice veterinarians in the animal welfare cause; and implementing a national strategy to collect and report shelter statistics.

Since its inception, Maddie's Fund has spent $64 million to support lifesaving projects in 29 states, 240 counties, 5,085 cities with funding provided to 549 animal welfare organizations, 1,461 private practice veterinary hospitals, nine universities and eight veterinary medical associations.

The success of Maddie's Fund projects is gauged by the results that are achieved for animals—fewer animals euthanized in shelters owing to reduced shelter intake and higher adoption rates.

The key components of its projects are aggressive spay/neuter, adoption marketing efforts, and tracking of animal outcomes so impact can be evaluated and programs modified to achieve better results.

This set the stage for the current collaboration between The HSUS and Maddie's Fund. Maddie's Fund agreed to underwrite nearly $400,000 of the social marketing research effort and provide up to $15,000 per animal shelter that agreed to track outcomes for the next five years. All told, Maddie's Fund will invest approximately $1 million into the "After Katrina" project.

Participating Shelters

To gauge success in reaching a goal of higher spay/neuter and lower intake rates in animal shelters, The HSUS decided to work closely with those who run the nearly 70 animal sheltering organizations in Louisiana and Mississippi. Once the shelters were identified, The HSUS's Heather Cammisa charted an ambitious plan to visit as many shelters as would meet with her.

©The HSUS

In the lobby of the new animal care center of the Louisiana SPCA (New Orleans). Left to right: Lori Haeuser, LA SPCA; Kate Pullen, ASPCA; Crystal Henderson, LA SPCA; Julia Breaux, HSUS.

From New Orleans to Shreveport, Oxford to Gulfport, and everywhere in between, Heather logged thousands of miles and hundreds of hours meeting with the leaders of more than 50 animal care and control agencies.  

Lynne Fridley from Maddie's Fund and HSUS Louisiana State Director Julia Breaux often joined Heather at these meetings, sharing the vision and ambition of the "After Katrina" project and ultimately persuading 54 organizations to participate in the endeavor.

During the three- to four-hour visits, Cammisa—an animal sheltering veteran—also shared valuable advice and guidance, while forging dozens of new friendships and professional relationships.

©The HSUS

Enjoying a visit in a Brookhaven Animal Rescue League (BARL) canine play yard (Brookhaven, Miss.). Left to right: Debbie Brant, BARL; Lynne Fridley, Maddie's Fund; Heather Cammisa, The HSUS; Beth Adcock, BARL.

 The 54 animal shelters involved—23 in Mississippi and 31 in Louisiana—have all made a commitment to develop meaningful animal intake and disposition data and implement a plan for tracking animals between 2005 and 2010.

In exchange for tracking their animals and sharing the data, shelters will each be awarded $10,000 to $20,000 grants to be used in any way they see fit to advance their efforts to help homeless dogs and cats.

Thus far, The HSUS and Maddie's Fund have promised a total of $852,500 in shelter grants.  

The HSUS

Shelters receiving assistance dot the region.

The Future

Once a social marketing strategy is developed, The HSUS—working with sheltering partners and veterinarians—will implement an outreach campaign across Louisiana and Mississippi, designed to change hearts and minds—and to get more dogs and cats spayed/neutered.

The HSUS has committed approximately $2 million to additional spay/neuter programs and marketing outreach in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Impacts and Outcomes

In total, The HSUS has committed $2.43 million to this research, grant-making and campaign effort. Through its partnership with Maddie's Fund, The HSUS has helped to bring another nearly $1 million in funding to animal shelters across Louisiana and Mississippi.

 "After Katrina" makes Louisiana and Mississippi the first states in the nation with such a broad commitment from shelters to voluntarily track animal outcomes. This information—and the cooperative networks that will form in order to provide it—sets the stage for coming to terms with the challenge of reducing animal homelessness and related problems that have historically persisted in both states.

The enthusiasm for this project has been palpable. Leaders at animal shelters across Louisiana and Mississippi are pleased that The HSUS and Maddie's Fund are offering them the kind of support they feel they need in their efforts to cope with the daily influx of unwanted animals.