Episode 92 of The Best Friends Podcast, published by Best Friends Animal Society on December 16, 2021, argued that length of stay (LOS) in animal shelters was trending upward as animal welfare kept feeling pandemic-era disruption. Brent Toellner, Best Friends’ senior director of national programs, joins to discuss the trend and how shelters and rescues can keep animals moving toward positive outcomes. The episode page gives no dataset, time period or number, so “on the rise” is best read as the organization’s December 2021 framing. It isn’t a verified current national figure.
What “length of stay” means
Best Friends defines LOS as the time an animal spends in the shelter, measured from intake to outcome. Its Length of Stay Manual recommends calculating the average, then breaking it down by species, intake type and disposition. Age, size and other pathway details can be added where they help. A single shelter-wide average can hide a lot: a stray dog reclaimed in two days and a cat waiting weeks for a foster slot produce a number that describes neither.
The manual treats LOS as useful because it connects to population health, crowding, stress and staff workload. It also helps shelters direct resources to animals likely to stay longer. Those are the manual’s stated reasons. They don’t guarantee that lowering an average will improve every outcome.
Why stays were getting longer, according to the episode
The episode page ties the trend to pandemic-era disruption and to fewer animals leaving through positive outcomes such as adoption. It doesn’t give a fully quantified causal breakdown, so treat these as the framing of the discussion rather than measured shares of the problem. Longer stays and crowding tend to feed each other: when animals leave more slowly, space and staff time run short, and that can slow the next animals’ progress.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
#1 Best Overall
What an “optimal” stay looks like
Shorter isn’t automatically better. Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, director of the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, is the named speaker in a Best Friends conference session on reducing LOS. The session summary says: “An optimal length of stay (LOS) for pets in shelters is one that’s short but as safe as possible, and it’s something every shelter should strive for.” That wording comes from the written summary, not an audio transcript.
The summary adds that lost pets should go home quickly. Animals who need medical care or training may properly stay longer. The target is safe and timely, not minimal.
Rank #2
Options the Best Friends manual points to
The manual’s core idea is to plan each animal’s pathway from the day of intake and schedule every step. It then checks capacity limits such as staffing and housing. Its recommendations include:
Plan and monitor each animal
- Daily rounds for medical and behavioral monitoring, logistics, and adjusting each animal’s path.
- Tracking LOS by species and by outcome, so gaps show up in the records.
Move ready animals faster
- Fast-tracking animals who are ready for adoption.
- Marketing animals early when they’re identified as at risk of a longer stay.
- Reviewing adoption practices and access hours, plus return-to-owner and reclaim access.
Add capacity outside the building
- Robust foster programs, including for animals with medical or behavior concerns.
- Veterinary partnerships and transfers to rescue partners.
- Strategic transport. The manual cautions against relying on transport for most positive outcomes as a long-term, comprehensive solution.
Support wellbeing during the stay
- Mental and physical enrichment. The manual doesn’t endorse any specific product or brand, so choose items to suit each animal and your facility’s sanitation and safety rules.
How to judge which fix fits
These are options to evaluate locally, not universal prescriptions or guaranteed LOS reductions. A practical way to choose:
- Find the bottleneck: intake, stray hold, medical or behavioral care, adoption readiness, reclaim or transfer.
- Check animal safety and welfare needs first. A faster exit isn’t a better one if it compromises either.
- Match the measure to your staff, housing, veterinary and partner capacity.
- Re-measure by species and pathway to confirm the change helped the intended group.
Adoption advertising is only one lever. The manual’s emphasis is on the whole pathway, from intake through preparation and placement.
What the episode does and doesn’t establish
- The episode page states an upward trend in its December 2021 context but publishes no numbers, measurement period or underlying dataset. Without newer data, don’t cite it as a current nationwide fact.
- The page identifies Toellner and his role but includes no transcript or verbatim statement from him, so none is quoted here.
Resources linked from the episode
The episode page points to the Best Friends Length of Stay Manual (the most complete practical guidance), a town hall on reducing shelter LOS, Maddie’s Fund’s flow-through planning, UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program material on daily rounds, Best Friends’ Removing Rescue Roadblocks, and a Best Friends editorial about operational pressure on shelters.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
