An Introduction to Evaluation Categories and Conditions (Asilomar Accords / Maddies Fund)

Evaluation Categories and Conditions

An Introduction

In August of 2004, a group of animal welfare industry leaders from across the nation convened at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California, for the purpose of building bridges across varying philosophies, developing relationships and creating goals focused on significantly reducing the euthanasia of healthy and treatable companion animals in the United States.

From this conference, a new standard reporting template was created, called the Asilomar Report.  The Asilomar Accords also emphasized the need to create community coalitions, among many other principles.

Maddie’s Fund is a charitable foundation named after a beloved Miniature Schnauzer.  They provide grants and have a similar reporting format to Asilomar, although with some differences.

Asilomar:  http://www.asilomaraccords.org/

Maddies:  http://www.maddiesfund.org/

Coalitions

Coalitions are called Alliances in Shelter Buddy.  They are maintained under the Administration menu, editing the Agency or Shelter/Rescues. 

NOTE: If animals are transferred to a group that has not been marked as part of a coalition/alliance and then afterwards it is updated to be included in a coalition/alliance, then the animals transferred prior to this update will still report as "outside the coalition", even if the joining date is back-dated prior to the transfer date. The group file must be marked first prior to transfer in order for the transfers to count as "within the coalition".  

Evaluation Categories

In Shelter Buddy, the Evaluation Category traces the health conditions during the animal’s visit in the shelter.  Shelter Buddy also offers the category of “feral”, and can be set to not show.  Animals with category set to feral are counted in the missing category when you run the Asilomar or Maddies reports.

In Shelter Buddy, you may have Support set the Evaluation Category to mandatory on intake.  Some sites prefer to have the evaluation category set during the pet’s initial exam, and for these sites, Evaluation Category is not mandatory.  In either case, the first setting of the evaluation category when the animal enters the shelter is considered the Incoming (or Intake) Evaluation Category.  If the animal comes into the shelter a second time, a fresh intake category will be set.  This is so that a puppy adopted many years ago as Healthy may come in as a dog with any of the categories, depending on the situation.

In Shelter Buddy, when you set the outgoing status, the evaluation category at that time is considered the Outgoing (or Outcome) Evaluation Category.

Each coalition is expected to create their own specific list of the conditions that match to the category.

Evaluation Conditions

Evaluation Conditions are associated to Evaluation Categories and are used to record the reason the animal was given one of the categories.  There is no reporting of conditions in Maddies or Asilomar.  You may select multiple conditions.  Conditions also can be used to help the user select the correct category because the category normally associated with a condition is shown with the selection.  You may select categories not associated with the selected condition because they may be important to note.  For example, your coalition may agree that an Unhealthy/Untreatable category is justified if the pet has an overwhelming number of treatable conditions.

Evaluation Category Definitions (from the Asilomar website)

http://www.asilomaraccords.org/definitions.html

In order to facilitate the data collection process and assure consistent reporting across agencies, the following definitions have been developed. The Asilomar participants hope that these definitions are applied as a standard for categorizing dogs and cats in each organization. The definitions, however, are not meant to define the outcome for each animal entrusted to our care.

Healthy: The term "healthy" means and includes all dogs and cats eight weeks of age or older that, at or subsequent to the time the animal is taken into possession, have manifested no sign of a behavioral or temperamental characteristic that could pose a health or safety risk or otherwise make the animal unsuitable for placement as a pet, and have manifested no sign of disease, injury, a congenital or hereditary condition that adversely affects the health of the animal or that is likely to adversely affect the animal's health in the future.

Treatable: The term "treatable" means and includes all dogs and cats who are "rehabilitatable" and all dogs and cats who are "manageable."

Rehabilitatable: The term "rehabilitatable" means and includes all dogs and cats who are not "healthy," but who are likely to become "healthy," if given medical, foster, behavioral, or other care equivalent to the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community.

Manageable: The term "manageable" means and includes all dogs and cats who are not "healthy" and who are not likely to become "healthy," regardless of the care provided; but who would likely maintain a satisfactory quality of life, if given medical, foster, behavioral, or other care, including long-term care, equivalent to the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring owners/guardians in the community; provided, however, that the term "manageable" does not include any dog or cat who is determined to pose a significant risk to human health or safety or to the health or safety of other animals.

Unhealthy and Untreatable: The term "unhealthy and untreatable" means and includes all dogs and cats who, at or subsequent to the time they are taken into possession,

	1) Have a behavioural or temperamental characteristic that poses a health or safety risk or otherwise makes the animal unsuitable for placement as a pet, and are not likely to become "healthy" or "treatable" even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community; or
	2) Are suffering from a disease, injury, or congenital or hereditary condition that adversely affects the animal's health or is likely to adversely affect the animal's health in the future, and are not likely to become "healthy" or "treatable" even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community; or
	3) Are under the age of eight weeks and are not likely to become "healthy" or "treatable," even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community.

Maddie’s Fund has a good definition document for the evaluation categories with more examples and explanation.  http://www.https://www.maddiesfund.org/assets/documents/No%20Kill%20Progress/A%20Guide%20to%20the%20Asilomar%20Accords%20Definitions.pdfmaddiesfund.org/Documents/No%20Kill%20Progress/A%20Guide%20to%20the%20Asilomar%20Accords%20Definitions.pdf

Additional information:

Question:

When should an animal be classified, upon intake or at the end of their stay? What if they come in sick, then improve by the time they are available?

Answer:

The Asilomar Accords table as it was originally designed shows the animal's classification only at exit. However, it's better to classify animals at intake as well as exit. This way, shelter workers can make decisions about whether to place animals in the shelter's adoption facilities, medical clinic or foster homes. Categorizing at intake also provides valuable information about shelter operations. For example, if a majority of animals come in healthy and exit as treatable, staff would want to take a closer look at housing conditions, disease control protocols, vaccination protocols, etc.

If an animal comes in healthy and becomes sick, he would be categorized as healthy at intake and treatable at exit. If an animal comes in sick and improves by the time he is available for adoption, he would still be categorized as treatable at both intake and exit If an animal has had an illness or other specified condition that needs attention at any time while under the shelter's care, that animal cannot be categorized as "healthy." Classifying an animal as healthy upon exit who received treatment while in the shelter hides the fact that the shelter put significant time and resources into caring for that animal. It's important for the shelter to know this so that it can accurately project future resource allocation.

From  http://www.asilomaraccords.org/frequently_asked_questions.html: