Main Analysis
Proportion of Cats and Dogs Prealtered
PetPoint includes a field called prealtered (Whether an animal was
already altered when entering the shelter). Based on our sample, the
proportion of cats and dogs entering the shelter prealtered
progressively decreased from 2019 - 2023. The percentage point decrease
from 2019 to 2023 for dogs (10.92) was larger than for cats (5.9). It is
important to note that the proportion of prealtered cats and dogs
entering the shelter in 2023 is roughly the same, 21.95 (cats) and 22.32
(dogs) respectively.
Below, we see a similar graph as the one above, but this one is of
cats and dogs whose first intake type was “Stray”. We see a similar
trend as before, but the percent prealtered is much lower than the chart
above. The proportion of stray cats prealtered at intake dropped 3.61
percentage points from 2019 to 2023, and stray dogs dropped 8.7
percentage points.
Below shows the proportion of cats and dogs prealtered whose first
intake type was “owner surrender”. The proportion of owner surrendered
cats and dogs coming in prealtered is higher than stray cats and dogs.
The sharpest drop is from 2019 to 2020, presumably an affect from COVID.
Cats dropped 9.46 percentage points from 2019 to 2023 and dogs dropped
10.68 percentage points. Both owner surrendered cats and owner
surrendered dogs experienced a larger percentage point drop from 2019 -
2023 than stray cats and stray dogs.
Dog Sample
Similar to our first sample, our original Dog sample needed to be
scrapped because a lot of entries were missing from 2024.
The Dog sample follows the same rules as our previous sample, where
each observation references one animal - only dogs in this case - and
their first intake listed on the software. The date range is the same,
January 2019 to January 2023, and only organizations that have at least
one entry each month were kept. This resulted in a sample size of 232
organizations.
Dog Analysis
Line Graphs
Below is a set of different line graphs where year is the x axis and
y is the percent prealtered. Each line refers to a different group of
dogs.
Intake Type
Since we kept the first intake date recorded for each animal, an
intake type of “Return” does not make sense. However, there are some
instances where an intake type of Return will show up. For example, the
“Return” intake type most likely came from adoptions that occurred prior
to January 2019.
Our sample shows that dogs transferred in have a similar prealtered
proportion as dogs surrendered by an owner. Seized and strays have close
percent prealtered rate as well.
age_group_at_intake
As expected, a higher proportion of older dogs come in prealtered vs
younger dogs. Adult dogs experienced the largest drop in their
prealtered proportion, with a drop of 13 percentage points.
Is it odd that the percent prealtered at intake for Senior and Adult
dogs is not higher? I would expect that by the time an animal is a
Senior or older Adult, that they would have been spayed or neutered at
some point in their life.
Dog Size
The large dogs dropped 14 percentage points from 2019 to 2023, and
medium dogs dropped 11 percentage points. Small dogs dropped 9
percentage points. While all size groups dropped a similar amount
(difference of 5 percentage points), small dogs have a much lower
prealtered proportion than large and medium dogs.
When a shelter records the size of an animal, does age play any
impact on that? For example, would a shelter organization label a weaned
pitbull as small when it would be classified as large as an adult?
Sex
Male dogs have a higher proportion coming in prealtered than female
dogs. Their proportions fell at similar rates.
LOS of Prealtered Dogs
Below is a line graph of the LOS for dogs by prealtered status. This
includes all intakes and outcomes. As expected, dogs that arrive
prealtered at intake have a lower LOS than dogs that arrive intact at
intake. There is a difference of 1 from 2019 to 2021, and the different
rises to 2 for 2022 and 2023.
LOS by Prealtered Status and Intake Type
Below is a line graph of the LOS by prealtered status at intake and
intake type. All outcome types are included. In the legend, if you click
on a group, it will remove that line from the graph. if you double click
a group, it will remove all other lines
- Owner/Guardian Surrender
- The LOS for dogs prealtered at intake and dogs not prealtered at
intake both increased, but the difference between the two remained the
same except for 2020 and 2021.
- Return
- The LOS for dogs that were returned prealtered, did not change much
from 2019 to 2023. It only increased by 1 in 2022 and 2023. The LOS for
dogs that were returned not prealtered varied widely over the years.
There was a sharp drop in 2020 and 2021, but then a big spike in 2022
and 2023.
- Seized / Custody
- Both prealtered and not prelatered seized dogs have a similar LOS
trend, but there is a 2-3 day gap between them.
- Stray
- Stray dogs also have a similar trend between those that come in
prealtered and those that come in intact. The difference between them is
1 day from 2019 to 2021, then it jumps to 2 days from 2022 to 2023.
Prealtered stray dogs and prealtered seized dogs have the lowest
LOS.
- Transfer In
- In 2023, both transferred in and returned dogs that came in intact
had the longest LOS (13 days). From 2019 to 2023, the LOS for
transferred in dogs that came in prealtered increased by 2 days while
not prealtered transferred in dogs LOS increased by 4 days.
Cat Sample
The Cat sample follows the same rules as our the dogs sample. Each
observation references cat and their first intake listed on the
software. The date range is the same, January 2019 to January 2023, and
only organizations that have at least one entry each month were kept.
There are 227 organizations that met this criteria.
Cat Analysis
Line Graphs
Below is a set of different line graphs where year is the x axis and
y is the percent prealtered. Each line refers to a different group of
cats.
Intake Type
Since we kept the first intake date recorded for each animal, an
intake type of “Return” does not make sense. However, there are some
instances where an intake type of Return will show up. For example, the
“Return” intake type most likely came from adoptions that occurred prior
to January 2019.
Our sample shows that cats transferred in have the highest proportion
prealtered compared to the other intake types, beside “return”. There is
a 12 percentage point gap between transfered in cats and owner
surrendered that has remained constant since 2020. Stray and seized have
the lowest proportion prealtered compared to the other intake types.
age_group_at_intake
As expected, a higher proportion of older cats come in prealtered vs
younger cats. Both senior cats and adult cats experienced a drop of 7
percentages for percent prealtered from 2019 to 2024. Cats experience
large gaps in the percent prealtered between seniors, adults, and
juvenile aged cats. There is a 31 percentage point gap between senior
and adult cats, and there is a 20 percentage point gap between adult and
juvenile cats.
Same questions as for dogs, is it odd that the percent prealtered at
intake for senior and adult dogs is not higher? I would expect that by
the time an animal is a senior or older adult that they would have been
spayed or neutered at some point in their life.
Sex
Male catss have a higher proportion coming in prealtered than female
cats. Their proportions fell at similar rates.
LOS of Prealtered Cats
Below is a line graph of the LOS for cats by prealtered status. This
includes all intakes and outcomes. As expected, cats that arrive
prealtered at intake have a lower LOS than cats that arrive intact at
intake. The gap in LOS between cats with a yes or no prealtered status
is much larger than dogs, 6 days in 2019 compared to 1 day for dogs. The
gap grew from 2019 to 2023, ending at a gap of 11 days.
LOS by Prealtered Status and Intake Type
Below is a line graph of the LOS by prealtered status at intake and
intake type. All outcome types are included. In the legend, if you click
on a group, it will remove that line from the graph. if you double click
a group, it will remove all other lines
- Owner/Guardian Surrender
- The LOS for owner surrendered cats prealtered actually dropped
slightly from 2019 to 2023. The LOS for cats not prealtered reamined
steady from 2019 to 2022, then jumped up 2 percentage points in
2023.
- Return
- The trends for prealtered returned and cats and not prealtered were
inverse of each other from 2019 to 2023. Non-prealtered cats experenced
a large spike in 2022 and dropped to the lowest LOS of the 5 years.
- Seized / Custody
- Both prealtered and not prelatered seized cats have a similar LOS
trend, but there is a 10-12 day gap between them.
- Stray
- Stray cats that came in prealtered have a consisitent LOS from 2019
to 2023, but not prealtered stray cats has progressiviley increased from
2019 to 2023. The LOS for not prealtered stray cats in 2023 is the
highest of all the intake types at 26 days. This is a 7 percentage point
increase from 2019 to 2023.
- Transfer In
- In 2019, the LOS for transferred in cats that came in not prealtered
had the longest LOS of any other intake type, while transferred in cats
that came in prealtered had the lowest LOS. They remained the lowest for
the following years as well. Both dropped a similar amount in percentage
points. 3 for prealtered cats and 4 for not prealtered cats.