Mark Hall

CS 410

Janet Brunelle

02/09/10

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Outline

1. Societal problem

2. Why is this a problem?

3. Solution

4. How it works

5. Market

6. Competition

7. Pros

8. Cons

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What is the problem?

Lost and Unwanted Animals

More specifically, the problem is overcrowding in animal shelters.

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Why is this a problem?

Every year, four to six million dogs and cats alone are euthanized (“Pet Overpopulation”).

Estimated percentage of lost animals reunited with their owners by U.S. animal shelters each year: 4 percent cats to 14 percent dogs (www.arlep.com).

There are approximately 5000 animal shelters within the United States (Watson).

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Other Reasons

More than half of all Americans are pet owners. With more than 72 million dogs and 81 million cats in the United States, some 37 percent of households include a dog and 32 percent have at least one cat (McWhinney).

Only 15 percent of dogs and 2 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are reunited with their owners (AHA).

56 percent of dogs and 71 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized (AHA).

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Solution

Implement a relocation system for the animals based on collected data.

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How does it work?

Each participating animal shelter nationwide gets a computer.

All computers are networked to a central database.

The database organizes all data based on certain criteria.

Emails are sent to the appropriate (relatively local) rescue groups.

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Who will want this?

All the animal shelters across the nation would be interested in this product.

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Competition

The closest competition is an organization called the International Species Information System (ISIS).

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Solution Benefits

The main benefit of this solution will be the saving of lives of many animals.

The cost of disposing of the animal corpses and the materials used for euthanization will be lowered.

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Possible Solution Problems

Animal transportation costs Constant updates on databases Operator training and error Equipment costs for computers and initial

setup Getting started with all the shelters

nationwide

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Final Thoughts

Not all animals can be saved. The best that can be done is to try and save as many as possible. This idea will be a great aide in achieving this goal.

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Questions?

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Sources

“Animal Shelter Euthanasia.” American Humane Association. 1 Feb. 2010. <http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/fact-sheets/animal-shelter-euthanasia.html>. 2010.

Horn, Ralph. Mathews County Animal Control Officer. Personal Interview. 1 Feb. 2010.

McWhinney, James E. “The Economics of Pet Ownership.” Investopedia. 31 Jan. 2010. <http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/peteconomics.asp>. 2010.

“Pet Overpopulation”. The Humane Society of the United States. 31 Jan. 2010. <http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/>. 2010.

Watson, Stephanie. "How Animal Shelters Work." How Stuff Works. <http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/

animal-shelters.htm>. 2010.