What Happens Between Intake and Outcome? Explaining Animal Care Days

While important to know, tracking and reporting absolute animal intake and outcome numbers for a defined period of time (weekly, monthly, annually) is only useful to a point.  Certainly, when composing direct mail campaigns to raise awareness and money for your organization it is relevant to report total intake and disposition numbers as a measure of the impact you have on the community, and additionally, if your organization is a member of a coalition, or at the least, aiming to achieve transparency with your data, then indeed absolute numbers will again be useful.  It’s easy to report the intake numbers, and similarly, the outcome numbers (adoptions, transfers, spay/neuter surgeries, euthanasias) but how can we talk about what happens in between intake and outcome?  Enter: the Animal Care Days (ACD) statistic!

In its most elementary form, the Animal Care Day equals how many days an animal spends in your organization’s care. 

Table #1: Animal Care Days

Animal #	Intake Date	Outcome Date	Animal Care Days (d)
001	1/1/11	1/31/11	30
002	1/5/11	1/15/11	10
003	1/6/11	1/10/11	4
004	1/11/11	1/31/11	20
005	1/15/11	1/30/11	15
006	1/16/11	1/25/11	9
007	1/20/11	1/29/11	9
008	1/21/11	1/23/11	2
009	1/22/11	2/21/11	29
010	1/30/11	2/4/11	4
		Total ACD:	132

From the table above, we can see that this shelter took in 10 animals in January, but the total time these 10 animals spent in this shelter’s care was 132 days.  Big difference between those two stats!  To get a better understanding of the population, it is imperative for staff to track ACD.  Looking more closely at the data, shelter staff can begin to analyze differences between the animals and ask itself questions such as: why was Animal #008 outcomed so quickly whereas Animal #001 took 30 days until outcome?

From this data, we can also calculate an Average Length of Stay: number of days an average animal contributes to the total animal care days.  From the data above:

Average Length of Stay = (Total Animal Care Days) / (Total Animals)

                                         = (132) / (10)

                                         = 13.2 d: meaning the average animal at this shelter stayed 13.2 days before finding a disposition.

Animal Care Days are also important when requesting funding or determining an operating budget.  From the data above, if the shelter knows that it costs $25 to care for an animal each day (housing, food, medical expenses, staffing, etc), then it can add the following column to the table:

Table #2: Determining Costs 

Animal #	Intake Date	Outcome Date	Animal Care Days (d)	Cost per Animal ($)
001	1/1/11	1/31/11	30	750
002	1/5/11	1/15/11	10	250
003	1/6/11	1/10/11	4	100
004	1/11/11	1/31/11	20	500
005	1/15/11	1/30/11	15	375
006	1/16/11	1/25/11	9	225
007	1/20/11	1/29/11	9	225
008	1/21/11	1/23/11	2	50
009	1/22/11	2/21/11	29	725
010	1/30/11	2/4/11	4	100
		Total:	132 d	$3,300

From the data above, the shelter calculates it costs $3300 to care for the animals that come in January.  The average cost per animal is: $330.  Obviously, the longer an animal stays, the more investment a shelter puts into it whereas the shorter the length of stay, the less investment necessary.  Moving forward, the shelter can look more closely at animal cohorts (kittens, puppies, adults, black cats versus other colors, pit bulls versus other dog breeds, etc) to identify patterns, recognize strains on resources, and appropriately manage the animal population.  Managed and limited intake facilities can use historical ACD data to more effectively plan their intakes, and all types of shelters can use this data to promote transfers of certain types of animals that may have more ACD or longer lengths of stay.  Additionally, shelters can use ACD data to ensure that euthanasias are happening in a timely fashion.  By analyzing the ACD for the average euthanized outcome, shelter managers can make certain that inevitable outcomes are decided early rather than late. 

For calculations in Excel, use function DAYS360, click here to see the full Excel tutorial to make ACD calculations easy!