Mandatory reporting of animal welfare outcomes in shelters and pounds
The Code of Practice for the Management of Dogs and Cats in Shelters and Pounds (the Code) requires Victorian shelters and pounds to collect and report data to government annually on the management outcomes of every dog and cat they care for.
This data will help the community and government to better understand how dogs and cats are managed and cared for in Victoria’s shelters and pounds. It will be used to inform policy planning and program development, ensuring continued improvements in welfare outcomes for dogs and cats in shelters and pounds.
For each reporting period, shelters and pounds must provide data on the number of dogs and cats:
- in care at the establishment, or in foster care, on the first day of the reporting period
- physically presented at an establishment but not admitted (and the reason they were not admitted)
- accepted for admission
- admitted into foster care
- that waited more than 14 days to access foster care
- permanently transferred to other establishments or groups for rehoming
- reclaimed by their owner
- rehomed
- rehomed but returned (including the reason the animal was returned)
- euthanased (including the reason why euthanasia was the appropriate or necessary outcome)
- that died, in the establishment or while in foster care, but were not euthanased.
Animal Welfare Victoria will collate and publish this data in 2 formats: 4 interactive online dashboards, with data grouped by theme (i.e., intake, foster care, reclaimed and rehomed animals, and death or euthanasia), and an Excel spreadsheet containing the raw data.
The first shelter and pound dataset covers the period 1 January to 30 June 2023 and was published in December 2023. You can view this data below in an Excel spreadsheet.
The second and most recent dataset covers the period from 1 July to 31 December 2023. You can view this data in the interactive dashboards, as well as in an Excel spreadsheet.
1 January to 30 June 2023 full shelter and pound dataset (EXCEL - 66.7 KB)
1 July to 31 December 2023 full shelter and pound dataset
(EXCEL - 37.7 KB)
Instructions on using the dashboards
The 4 dashboards are interactive, which means they can be filtered to show data from an individual shelter or pound, council area, council grouping or state-wide. To change a filter or return a dashboard to the default view (i.e. all data/state-wide view), use the ‘reset filter’ button.
Shelters and pounds may provide contextual comments to help dashboard users interpret the data. These are displayed when a specific shelter or pound’s data is being viewed. Use the ‘reset comments’ button to return a dashboard to the default view (all data).
It is important to note that:
- some councils do not operate their own pounds and contract pound services to other facilities. This is why not all 79 councils are listed in the dataset
- a contracted facility may not be in the same municipality as the council they are servicing and may hold contracts with multiple councils
- some facilities may report higher numbers of animals across the data categories, because they admit and care for animals from many council areas (e.g. The Lost Dogs’ Home partners with 16 councils)
- in 2023 and early 2024, there was a shortage of cat vaccines in Australia, which may have impacted both the admission and euthanasia numbers of facilities. Some councils paused their cat trapping services because of the increased risk of disease from the vaccine shortage.
Data sorted by municipality or council grouping includes all data reported by facilities registered within that municipality or council grouping. Therefore, the data viewed by municipality or council grouping may include animals that came from outside that council area, as some facilities may admit animals from other municipal areas. For facilities providing pound services, or servicing multiple council areas, numbers reported across the various data categories may be higher.
A guide for data interpretation has been developed, linked below, to help you view and understand shelter and pound data. It provides:
- a summary of the legislative framework that requires data reporting.
- the purpose of data reporting, and
- descriptions of each data category, as well as definitions for each explanatory (reason) code.
Shelter and Pound Data Interpretation Guidance (PDF - 360.9 KB)
Shelter and Pound Data Interpretation Guidance (WORD - 311.0 KB)
Intake
This dashboard shows data for the 1 July to 31 December 2023 reporting period.
Intake data describes the animals that have entered and been cared for by a shelter or pound during the reporting period. Animals will have been in the care of shelters and pounds at the start of the reporting period and are counted from 1 January.
This dashboard shows information on the volume of, and reasons for, animals not being admitted to shelters and pounds. Shelters and pounds have varying legal obligations under the Domestic Animals Act (1994), and each may have their own policies and procedures for managing animal admissions, which may be reflected in the data.
For more information about these data elements, please read the guide for data interpretation.
Foster care
This dashboard shows data for the 1 July to 31 December 2023 reporting period.
Foster care data shows the number of animals placed into foster care during the reporting period.
Shelters and pounds report on the number of animals that had to wait 14 or more days for access to foster care.
For more information about these data elements, read the guide for data interpretation.
Reclaimed and rehomed animals
This dashboard shows data for the 1 July to 31 December 2023 reporting period.
An animal is classified as reclaimed if it is reunited with its owner.
Shelters and pounds may rehome animals, or they may transfer animals to other shelters, organisations, or people, who will rehome the animal.
Animals can be returned to a shelter or pound following adoption for a range of reasons, as shown in the dashboard. Sometimes it may be in the best interests of both the animal and its owner to find a new match.
For more information about these data elements, read the guide for data interpretation.
Death and euthanasia
This dashboard shows data for the 1 July to 31 December 2023 reporting period.
Under the Code, pounds and shelters may legally euthanase an animal for the reasons listed in the dashboard. Where an animal is euthanased for one of these reasons, the decision has been made because rehoming cannot be achieved without compromising the animal's welfare or community safety.
Council-run or contracted pounds may be involved in cat management programs, manage a large number of seized animals, or keep custody of dangerous dogs. Such facilities may have higher rates of euthanasia due to the requirements of the Domestic Animals Act (1994).
Shelters and pounds further report on animal deaths other than euthanasia, which may occur due to old age or pre-existing conditions.
For more information about these data elements, read the guide for data interpretation.
Data quality statement
Shelter and Pound Data – Data Quality Statement (PDF - 162.9 KB)
Shelter and Pound Data – Data Quality Statement (WORD - 206.2 KB)
Contact us
Enquiries about copyright and use of the material on this website can be directed to:
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) Customer Service Centre
Phone 136 186.
For more information, visit Disclaimer and Copyright on the DEECA website.