What if there was a magic wand we could wave over animal shelters to increase cat adoptions while cutting daily care costs by as much as half, reducing stress for staff, creating a more welcoming environment for volunteers and visitors, and dramatically improving the health and welfare of shelter cats? It’s not quite as easy as a magic wand, but we’ve discovered that Capacity for Care (C4C) can have these benefits and more. In this workshop we discuss the elements of Capacity for Care in the context of the Five Freedoms and the ASV Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters; describe in detail the steps for calculating required physical and staff capacity for care; and provide a variety of practical, real-life strategies to make sure there is a good match between the actual daily population and the required Capacity for Care. The good news about C4C is that it can apply to any shelter, small or large, rich or poor, open or limited intake. And the even better news is that attaining C4C in the shelter frees resources to invest in building Capacity for Care in the community as well. We now know that cats, people, wildlife and communities are best served when we admit cats to a shelter in balance with our ability to provide care and assure a live outcome for every healthy cat. C4C will help you get there.

Should you wish to use or reproduce any portion of Dr. Hurley's presentation please credit the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program in your acknowledgments.

Cats, care and capacity: how much is enough?  powerpoint presentation