The local welfare center saved 91 percent of cats and 92 percent of dogs in 2017.
Three tiny tabby cats — two orange and one gray — pranced through zigzagged shelves in a secluded room at the Camden County Animal Shelter.
While the frisky furballs appeared to be in good health, they happen to have feline immunodeficiency virus — a condition that often leads to euthanasia.
However, in the hands of the county shelter, these cats will keep their lives, as they are part of the nearly 91 percent of felines and 92 percent of canines that were saved in 2017.
In fact, the fusion of political, medical and behavioral initiatives has led Camden County to recently achieve the highest percentage of save rates in South Jersey.
“This 90 percent rate comes at the heels of us taking every single animal that comes in the door,” Freeholder Jonathan L. Young said. “We don’t pick and choose what animals come into our shelter. No matter what the case is — we take them all and make it work.”
Since 2009, Camden County Animal Shelter has increased its save rate by 45 percent for cats and 19 percent for dogs. A total of 1,540 animals were transferred out to other rescue agencies in 2017, an increase of 37 percent or 417 more lives saved, according to the county.
Many factors have contributed to these increases, including the freeholders’ 2015 decision to end puppy mill sales and the introduction of last year’s Community Cat Ordinance, which aims to resolve high populations of stray and feral cats.
Through the ordinance, a trap-neuter-return policy was implemented through the county, providing a safety net for both the cats and the community. The TNR procedure leads to the birth of fewer kittens, naturally reducing the overall population.
“For cats, specifically, it was rough,” said Mike Bricker, the shelter operation manager. “Cats get sick as soon as they come in, so a lot of shelters won’t put the time and effort into getting that cat healthy and getting them adopted.”
There are roughly 70 million free-roaming cats in the United States, according to the state Department of Health. The county estimates roughly 1.3 million to 2 million strays wander New Jersey alone. Some 25,000 of the 123,000 cats living in Camden County are considered stray or feral.
The TRN ordinance was part of the county’s overarching objective to revamp the shelter, pumping roughly $2 million into the facility between two phases of renovation over the past few years, according to Young.
Bricker says throughout his animal sheltering career, he’s noticed the lack of governmental support can truly be a matter of life or death for pets in need.
“With empowerment from the freeholders, from our volunteers and rescues, we were able to make those changes to make it happen,” Bricker said. “The freeholders understand that there is a home for every animal, so we just make sure we increase that.”
Aside from the freeholders, the shelter practices progressive forms of animal welfare, including an open adoption policy that went into effect a few years ago. The non-judgmental approach to adopting slashes the lengthy application process, making more pets accessible to more people.
“That was the first thing that spurred. After that was when we saw a huge increase in adoptions and live releases,” Bricker said. “It just grew steadily from there.”
The shelter is also very adamant about not confining the focus on the physical health of animals but the emotional well-being, too.
The shelter relies heavily on its enrichment teams, which, aside from behavior training, encourage walks, socialization and sleepovers. Just last week, the shelter started a “cat yoga” session, in which yogis come to the shelter for a class while cats linger along the mats.
Both Bricker and Young heavily attribute this rise in save rates to the outcry of support from not only their staff, but the local community, including volunteers. Some 10,026 volunteers hours were recorded in 2017.
“The fact of having people who literally care about the animals more than they care about the numbers. When you get a situation where the animal comes first, the numbers take care of themselves automatically,” Young said. “Once that was established, I think that’s when the turn really started to happen.”
However, Young says they’re not satisfied with a 90 percent-plus save rate, as they want to exceed their current figures. But, this will not be possible without the public’s ongoing donations and adoptions.
“Keeping us at 90 percent is going to be even harder than the road there,” Bricker said.
“We’re not done,” Young added. “We’re going to continue to strive to be the best that we can be and just keep moving forward from this point.”
