For this project, for a Parsons class in autumn 2019, I learned to make Sankey diagrams. I wanted to see what the odds were of a cat entering a shelter system in the United States and coming out alive.
Tools
I used SankeyMATIC to create the two Sankey diagrams separately, then used Illustrator to bring them together and do the rest of the layout.
Data
The data are from Shelter Animals Count. The set is one made available to students and does not include all reporting organizations. The visualizations presented here are therefore representational and should not be used for interpretation of the data themselves. For the full data set, as well as interactive and static visualizations, reports, and analysis, see the Shelter Animals Count website. For more information about solutions, see, for example, Kate Hurley and Julie Levy, “Feline Shelter Intake Reduction Program FAQs,” Maddie’s Fund, January 2013.
Definitions
A stray is a cat stated to be unowned or free roaming.
Owner relinquishment refers to a cat surrendered by owner, including adoption returns.
Owner-intended euthanasia refers to a cat whose owner brought it to the shelter to request euthanasia.
Transfers in from other agencies include support for large-scale seizures.
Other intakes include impounds for cruelty and protective custody and pets born in care.
Adoptions are final adoptions, not foster or trial placements.
Returns to owners includes strays returned to caretakers.
Returns to field are strays brought in, de- sexed, and returned to their capture location; these are not trap/neuter/release program participants.
Other live outcomes include barn cats.
Deaths in care are cats who died in care other than by euthanasia.
Shelter euthanasia is any euthanasia other than owner-intended euthanasia.
SOURCE: Shelter Animals Count, “Basic Animal Data Matrix (VRS 3.2018),” c. 2018 (pdf).
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