Quick Tips

How to use this tool:

The default view on the landing page shows national data. Click on each tile to flip it over and view the details. To see a custom view by state or county, click the “Explore Shelter Data” button at the bottom of the page to be taken to a data selection page.

1. On this page you can explore the data by state (required), county and customized species or intake/outcome variables. State and county may be single or multiple selections.

2. Select “Update” to run your report. The search results will be presented on the page and available for download via the “Export CSV” button. (Note that when multiple states are selected, the county option and export feature is not available)

3. To Export your search results, you will be prompted to provide your email address and agree to terms and conditions.

You can run as many reports in a single session as you wish (click “clear filters” between each query/report) . Exports are limited to three within a 24-hour period. All data usage requires citation to “Best Friends 2020 National Dataset – Collected Data”

Dataset Definition

The Data Explorer tool provides access to the data of 3,330 brick and mortar shelters collected by Best Friends. This collected data is aggregated at a county and state level and does not include estimations for shelters without data. A mixed-year approach is used to provide the most comprehensive view of national data. Nearly 80% of collected intake in this dataset is from 2020, but 2019 or 2018 are used for shelters when 2020 data is unavailable. All segments of the data are presented as reported by the shelter, including individual species and types of intake or outcomes. Some shelters do not specify species or type of intake or outcome. Data reported without a designated species is included in overall totals but is not represented in specific dog or cat cuts of data.

The Gap to 90 is the number of dogs and cats that would have had to be saved last year in order to achieve the 90% save rate threshold. The Gap to 90 is calculated at the shelter level as follows, and summed to the county, state and national levels.

Shelter’s non-live outcomes [(Shelter Deaths*) + (Lost in Care)] – 10% of total intake * Shelter Deaths = all euthanasia, died in care, and lost in care.