Shelter Animals Count Brings Data Transparency to Animal Welfare

Across the U.S., there are thousands of animal welfare organizations making a positive difference for animals and people in their communities. They share a passion for animals and saving lives, but until the formation of Shelter Animals Count, they lacked a standardized database system to track and measure their progress.

The independent nonprofit was formally established in 2012 to steward a national database tracking shelter intakes and outcomes. It has since evolved and now collects and shares a broader range of data, including data on services provided to animals outside of shelters and animal-level insights on intakes and outcomes.

United States Animal Statistics by Shelter Animals Count on Tableau Public

Analyzing this data helps animal welfare providers make informed decisions about how they operate. For example, with insights into trends such as what size or breed of dog stays longest in shelters or what color cats are adopted most quickly, shelters can adjust their strategies to deliver the best possible outcomes

We spoke to Samantha Hill, Director of Data and Technology at Shelter Animals Count, to hear how the nonprofit empowers animal welfare organizations to use data for good. Learn more about its mission and how it is tackling challenges like data standardization.

Providing trusted data to a nationwide community

Shelter Animals Count’s mission is to be the trusted source for collecting and sharing credible and accessible data to positively impact animals and communities. This data is gathered from thousands of shelters and rescue organizations that voluntarily enter their data each month. Shelter Animals Count then consolidates the data and makes it available to the animal welfare community, media, and others using Tableau Public.

One of the nonprofit’s principles in sharing the data is to remain neutral. It doesn’t manipulate the data to suit a particular narrative or provide recommendations based on the data.

“You can pick and choose data points to tell the story you want to tell, or you can take all the data and piece it together to tell a more holistic story, and that’s the direction we want to take,” said Hill.

By presenting a holistic view of data through visualizations like its Industry Trends Dashboard, Shelter Animals Count empowers organizations to view what’s happening at a national level and compare and contrast this to what’s happening in their organizations or local regions. These insights can drive decisions about programming and also inspire collaboration.

Industry Trends by Shelter Animals Count on Tableau Public

“Our data can help national organizations identify where they are doing well or where more funding may be needed. Smaller, more local organizations can compare themselves to the national benchmark and if they are falling behind in an area like adoption, they can reach out to those who are doing well and learn more about their programs,” said Hill.

The data also helps organizations to maintain perspective and visualize long-term progress at times when they are struggling to deliver outcomes.

“It is easy for those working in animal welfare to feel stressed and compassion fatigued, especially if they are new to the industry. Showing them how today’s data compares to five years ago helps them see that things are not as bad as they feel and encourages them not to give up,” said Hill.

Standardizing data creates a single source of truth

When working with so many organizations to establish a single source of truth, it’s important to create alignment around what data should be included and how it is defined. Shelter Animals Count has taken a consultative approach and worked with animal welfare organizations to agree on certain standards, such as how animal-level data should be represented.

“Standardizing data is complicated and requires stakeholder buy-in because if we were to set the standards ourselves and no one follows them, the data won’t mean what we think it means anyways,” said Hill.

To help with the standardization and analysis of data, Shelter Animals Count has developed resources such as its Animal Welfare Glossary. The glossary defines standard terms as well as the calculations used within the nonprofit’s dashboards and reports. These include calculations such as the length of stay for animals within shelters and animal save rates.

Animal Welfare Glossary by Shelter Animals Count

Visualizing data for actionable insights

Shelter Animals Count has used Tableau from the beginning to visualize data. “Having used Tableau in a previous role, I was excited to continue using it here. It is really flexible and suited to our needs and the data we have to show,” said Hill.

The nonprofit has a dedicated visualization architect, Tom Pierre, who uses Tableau daily to build and improve dashboards so data is as easy as possible to understand. The dashboards are made available to contributing organizations and the general public via Tableau Public, where users can easily filter and explore the data.

Community Services Dashboard by Shelter Animals Count on Tableau Public

“With Tableau, we can present data in a visually appealing way which is important because not everyone is a data person and can look at a table and intuitively know what’s changed or what they should pay attention to,” said Hill.

Using Tableau Public, Shelter Animals Count can provide data contributors with a code that enables them to embed dashboards on their own websites. Tableau Public also allows the nonprofit to share data in a secure and controlled way, helping to maintain the trust of its community.

Using data for good: Tips to get started

Asked for advice on how other nonprofit organizations or communities can start to harness the power of data, Hill suggested focusing on key questions.

“Think about the questions that you want your data to answer and start from there. For us, it was understanding how many animals were coming into the shelters and how they were leaving. Now, we’re exploring more complex questions like what the animals leaving have in common,” said Hill.

While it is okay to start small, Hill said it was also important to have a vision and plan for how to expand and manage a growing volume of data.

“When you have big dreams and an industry that needs those insights, there is amazing potential to grow and make an impact,” said Hill.

Visit Shelter Animals Count to learn more about how they are collecting and sharing credible and accessible data to positively impact animals and communities.