Shelter intake best practices

Intake is the moment a shelter learns everything it will know about an animal for days. A rushed intake record is paid back with interest: missed medical conditions, duplicate records, longer stays.

At the door

• Scan for a microchip before anything else — a hit can turn an intake into a same-day reunion
• Photograph the animal at arrival; photos anchor identification and lost-pet matching
• Record source and circumstances: stray location, surrender reason, transfer origin

The first 24 hours

A structured medical assessment — recorded, not remembered — establishes the baseline that later checkups compare against. Vaccination status, visible conditions, weight, temperament observations all belong in the record, with the exam and its cost logged to the animal's profile.

Statuses that mean something

Quarantine, treatment, hold periods, foster, adoptable: statuses should drive task lists (feeding, medication, enrichment) rather than live on a whiteboard. When the status changes, the work changes with it.

Plan the exit at the entrance

From day one, the record should show the path out: reclaim window, medical clearance, behaviour review, adoption listing. Length of stay drops when the exit is planned, not discovered.