In 2004, leaders from animal-welfare organizations across the nation gathered at the Asilomar Conference Center in California to address the unfortunate historical friction between groups with differing philosophies.
The conferees agreed on common principles and goals, consistent language, and standards for the classification and collection of animal statistics.
An organization called Maddie’s Fund has provided grants to assist local shelters and humane societies in building coalitions to reduce the euthanasia of healthy animals in shelters.
The Humane Society of the South Platte Valley (HSSPV) is a member of the Metro Denver Animal Welfare Alliance (MDAWA), a coalition of public and private shelters, rescue groups, and other animal service providers. Our mission is to foster the collaborative efforts of our members to promote humane care for companion animals in our community.
Through 2015, HSSPV collected and reported shelter statistics, including live release rate, in accordance with the Asilomar Accords. The guiding principles of the Asilomar Accords included statistical transparency and a uniform method for collecting and reporting shelter data. Recognizing that industry standards are changing, an improved method of collecting data has evolved out of the Accords matrix.
Beginning in 2016, HSSPV will also share the statistics in a data matrix that is required by the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act (PACFA) for Colorado-licensed shelters and rescues. In addition, HSSPV is reporting data to the Shelter Animals Count National Database which provides shelter data on dogs and cats at the county level in the U.S. The purpose of the Shelter Animals count is to enable data-driven decisions to promote saving the lives of companion animals and preventing homelessness.