Tracking Shelter Population Statistics

Many shelters use shelter software management systems to help them collect and analyze population data and track trends in data over time. But remember, all users of the software must be using standard definitions for entering data if reports made from these programs are to be meaningful and comparable to other shelters. Here is a list of the most common software packages used in shelters today. Click on the link to learn about what each one offers.

Chameleon: a leading provider of animal shelter software since 1984. Contains standard features and reports for tracking animals in the shelter and is particularly strong in features supporting animal control activities such as investigations, calls for service, citations, licenses, etc.

PetPoint: the PetPoint Animal Management Software is a cloud-based application developed and launched in 2005. PetPoint is one of the most widely used animal management application in North American animal welfare.

ShelterBuddy: software for animal shelters for tracking in care pets, fosters, adoptions, volunteers, donors, etc.

Shelterluv: software for tracking in care pets, fosters, adoptions, volunteers, donors, etc and includes advanced medical features, templates, and reports designed by a shelter vet.

Statistics are navigation devices – they tell you where you are, where you’ve been, where you need to go, and what you need to do to get to where you want to go.

The ASV Guidelines state that a MUST PRACTICE for all shelters is recording intake and outcome numbers for each species on a monthly basis. This includes recording both the intake numbers by category (stray, owner surrender, transfer in, confiscation, rabies quarantine) and the outcome numbers by category (adoption, transfer out, return to owner, euthanasia).

Here is an example of a basic monthly Kennel Statistics Report generated by the Chameleon shelter software system. Note that Intakes are categorized by species, age group, and source, and Outcomes are categorized by adoption, transfer to another agency for placement, and euthanasia.

Kennel Statistics Report Intakes from 05/01/23 to 05/31/23