Each year, a dedicated group of Best Friends staff and volunteers compile a colossal spreadsheet with 611,000 individual cells of data. This comprehensive dataset tracks lifesaving across the country and the latest numbers are in.

It wasn’t that long ago that our field worked in the dark, not knowing where and how animals were being killed. It’s impossible to develop effective, targeted programs to save lives without this information. This changed when a collaborative group of stakeholders launched Shelter Animals Count, and shelters and rescues across the country embraced a new framework for tracking and reporting. Today more than 3,600 shelters submit their data which represents 92% of intake nationwide.

The dataset tracks the national number of dogs and cats that enter and leave shelters, and drills down geographically to the individual shelter level. This week we give you the scoop on the 2019 progress and explore the ways that this dataset informs the work of Best Friends.