Creating Healthy Spaces for Animals

A shelter "flip" makes better use of space to improve animal health

Many shelters and animal control agencies have facilities that were not designed to provide optimum animal care and a good customer experience. And many agencies do not have resources to build a new facility or even substantially renovate their current one.

If this situation describes your agency, don't be discouraged. With some creativity, careful planning, and elbow grease, you may find ways to rearrange how the space in your facility is being used that will immediately improve operations and the wellness of the animals in your care.

The staff at Shelby Humane Society, in Shelby County, AL, recently worked with the ASPCA's Kate Pullen, Senior Director, Community Outreach, and Miranda Spindel, DVM, MS, Director of Veterinary Outreach, to "flip" their shelter. "Flip" is a term that Pullen coined for a major physical or philosophical shift in shelter operations. Shelby's experience shows how you can achieve your own shelter "flip."

First Things First

As an ASPCA partner, Shelby Humane Society received an evaluation of their facility and operations from the ASPCA Baseline Assessment Team, which includes Pullen and Spindel. That assessment determined, in part, that the way space was being used in the shelter was contributing to illness among the animals. The shelter needed to better manage their animal population and provide better isolation and separation to improve overall animal health.

However, the need for written medical standard operating procedures (SOPs) was another finding of the assessment. Before making changes to their facility, Jennifer Freeman, Medical Manager, and Sara Shirley, Shelter Manager, worked with Pullen and Spindel to develop those SOPs. The SOPs were written and implemented before the team tackled the facility issues.

Identify Specific Goals

Together, Freeman, Shirley, Pullen, and Spindel identified goals related to use of space in the shelter facility. These included:

• Use the available animal space in the best way to maintain animal health and wellness
• Achieve the best cat and dog isolation and separation possible in the current facility

Define the High-Priority Animal Spaces

ASPCA and Shelby Humane staff agreed that the following spaces were required:

• cat isolation area,
• dog isolation area,
• separate dog and cat intake areas,
• a more visible and less stressful cat adoption area, and
• areas for small dogs and puppies away from the large adult dogs.

Draw a Map and Make a Plan

Pullen and Spindel next drew an accurate map of the facility, including offices and storage as well as indoor and outdoor animal areas. Jennifer Freeman said that having a map to look at during planning sessions made it easier to imagine how spaces might be used differently.

The team decided how each area of the shelter would be used most effectively. Next, they planned how they would carry out the "flip" of spaces from the old purposes to the new. This involved:

• Calculating maximum capacity (how many animals each room should hold at the most) based on their shelter statistics and shelter design
• Creating signs to identify each room and label the number of cages and animals the room could house
• Identifying the work needed to create each area, such as setting up temporary areas to hold animals, emptying contents, extremely thorough cleaning, minor renovations such as painting, arranging the new contents of the space, moving animals in, etc.
• Planning the most efficient sequence in which to reconfigure spaces
• Determining team leaders who would be responsible for directing the work for each space
• Estimating the amount of time needed to "flip" all the spaces
• Ensuring that new signs and procedures were in place to support and work with reconfigured spaces

Freeman said that their plan did lack a few details that would have made the project a little easier:

• Identifying all the tools and supplies needed — "down to the last paper towel," says Freeman — and having them in stock
• Including time and resources for cleaning dishes and laundry in addition to cleaning cages, kennels, and rooms

Start "Flipping"

Shelby Humane's plan focused first on cat spaces.

• The plan called for the staff to obtain some minor renovations to two former office spaces. Renovations complete, the offices became a cat isolation room and a healthy cat holding room distanced from the room near the dog kennel, where all incoming cats had formerly been housed.
• An area near the cat adoption room housing a vending machine was repurposed into three bright, spacious cat condominiums made from shower stalls.
• With the new healthy cat holding area and cat isolation areas in place, the staff cleaned out the old rooms, painted them, and started disassembling cages, deep cleaning, and rearranging them to house dogs in different spaces.
• The staff were able to achieve this while the shelter remained open for regular operations.

Bring All Hands on Deck

Shelby Humane's plan for reconfiguring dog spaces required more "hands" to participate and had to be completed when the shelter was closed. The staff scheduled the dog "flip" during a weekend so that the shelter would be closed to the public for only one day. All staff, even office staff, came to do the work.

Freeman identified some key factors that made the two-day project run smoothly:

• The day began with a meeting of the entire staff, plus Pullen and Spindel, at which the staff received team assignments working under team leaders who had been briefed in advance.
• The meeting included a briefing on the long term goals of the "flip," including the benefits to animals, staff, and the public, and the specific steps planned for the two days.
• The steps were also written on charts in the lobby for reference during the process.

After Flipping, Be Prepared for Short-Term Chaos

Freeman said that the first few weeks of working in their new spaces were stressful. Everyone had new routines to learn. The new isolation areas had the biggest impact on daily routines. Previously, the shelter had no isolation areas, and sick animals were left amongst the healthy. Now, when Freeman identifies sick animals during her daily rounds, the animals are moved to isolation, and their previous cage cleaned and disinfected. Although this process was initially very challenging, by the third week, following new, written SOPs and moving animals into isolation became routine.

Be Prepared for Unexpected Benefits

Freeman said that the staff saw immediate improvements for both dogs and cats as a result of the rearranged spaces. In addition, the two-day project turned into a powerful team-building experience for the entire staff. The staff are proud of the work they did together and of their improved shelter.

Freeman also thought that, having witnessed such a huge and successful change, shelter staff will be more willing to suggest different ways of doing things in the future and be more open to new ideas themselves. She pronounced the whole experience, "so worth it."

Unconventional Use of Space

Here are some of the changes Shelby Humane Society made to obtain their new animal spaces:

• Shelby moved its office space to former storage space on the second floor, freeing up rooms for cat healthy holding and cat isolation that were well away from dog areas, and consequently much quieter and less stressful for the cats.
• Shelby created several cat condominiums (from shower stalls!) in the cat adoption area. These cat condos are highly visible to shelter visitors. The condos also have climbing and perching areas for enrichment, which helps with the cats' well-being.
• Shelby used outdoor runs for its dog isolation area. The kennels are roomy and have plenty of sheltered bedding. While housing animals outdoors isn't ideal in all climates, Dr. Spindel convinced Freeman and Shirley that the outdoor kennel area at Shelby was the best area to limit disease transmission from dog to dog, and that the ventilation outdoors might help the dogs' respiratory tracts recover. Freeman says that dogs with respiratory illnesses seem to do better in the fresh air.

You can view a slideshow with before and after images of some of the animal spaces that were reconfigured during Shelby's shelter "flip."