Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland Frequently Asked Questions
What is ASAP?
ASAP stands for the Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland, greater metro area. This acronym was also chosen because the mission of ASAP is, indeed, one of urgency so more lives are saved.
What is ASAP’s mission?
Our mission is to end the euthanasia of social, healthy, or treatable cats and dogs in our local shelters by collaborating on spay/neuter programs, educational, and outreach efforts, and the promotion of humane alternatives for feral cats.
Who is part of ASAP?
The Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland has ten founding organizations:
•Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs
•Cat Adoption Team
•Clackamas County Dog Control
•Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon
•Humane Society for Southwest Washington
•Multnomah County Animal Services
•Oregon Humane Society
•Portland Veterinary Medical Association
•Southwest Washington Veterinary Medical Association
•Washington County Animal Services/Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter
Why was ASAP formed?
Leaders of several of these groups agreed that many of the issues we were addressing individually could benefit from a collaborative and regional approach. Animal welfare issues are complex and finding long-term, meaningful solutions requires input and support from public and private shelters as well as the veterinary community.
The Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland’s founding organizations provide care for more than 90 percent of the homeless animals in the greater Portland metro area.
What area does ASAP serve?
ASAP collaborates on issues affecting the four counties including and surrounding Portland, OR: Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, and Clark (WA). Our boundaries are defined by human population density (and, therefore, pet population density), not geography.
ASAP shelters and organizations assist a community of nearly 2 million people, with 9 percent of these living below the poverty line, and nearly 1 million cats and dogs. It is estimated that 462,000 cats and 402,000 dogs share homes with Portlanders, with an additional estimated 100,000 free-roaming, stray, or feral cats in the community.
What is ASAP currently working on?
After the ASAP shelters looked at their collective shelter statistics, it was determined that the cat overpopulation problem was at crisis level. Over the last three years, an average of 23,600 cats and kittens enter the shelter system in Portland and over 13,000 of those cats and kittens are euthanized. To put it more directly, an average of 36 cats/kittens in Portland-area shelters are euthanized every day.
We cannot adopt our way out of this crisis. Targeted spay/neuter and the reduction of the feline population is the only way to reduce these numbers. To that end ASAP launched its CatNIP (Cat Neuter Incentive Program) – subsidized spay/neuter pilot program for low-income cat owners – targeted at the highest risk zip codes. The CatNIP program is funded with grants totaling $60,000. To date, CatNIP has sterilized over 500 cats for a co-pay of $10. It is estimated that each year, ASAP organizations and the veterinary community will need to do an additional 10,000 spay/neuter surgeries (on top of the almost 60,000 done annually) to see a reduction in the overall number of cats relinquished to shelters and ultimately euthanized.
What kind of projects does ASAP tackle?
ASAP projects have a region-wide impact on ending the euthanasia of social, healthy, or treatable cats and dogs and promoting humane alternatives for feral cats.
Currently, we are providing spay/neuter services for owned and feral cats bought in by responsible individuals in financial need in a targeted area of SE Portland (see above).
ASAP founding organizations are researching strategies to improve the adoptability of power breed dogs in our shelters. Power breed dogs – or bully dogs – could be categorized as mixed or pure breed Pit Bulls, Rottweiler, Doberman, German Shepherds, etc. About 20 percent of the shelter dog intake are these power breeds, and unfortunately, over half of these are euthanized.
All of our groups are also working together to adopt a community wide standard for collecting and reporting animal shelter data, thereby streamlining reporting, transparency, and consistency. (For more information on this process, please see www.asilomaraccords.org.)
How is the group funded?
ASAP is not a 501(c)(3) charity; ASAP receives support from each of the organizations/agencies on an equitable basis. Funding for specific projects comes from grants and foundations.
How can other groups participate?
Additional groups are welcome to work with us on specific issues with ASAP leaders. For example, we partner with Oregon Spay/Neuter Fund and Cherish the Animals on our CatNIP (Cat Neuter Incentive Program) spay/neuter program for low income families in SE Portland.
How do I donate to ASAP?
Donations can be made to any ASAP organization/agency and earmarked for ASAP.
