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Front Cover -- Strategies for Successful Animal Shelters -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword -- 1 The Difference a Shelter Makes: A Tale of Two Aces -- Research Focus -- Definitions -- Narrative Examples -- Key Issues -- Homeless Animals and the Role of Animal Shelters -- Animal Control Versus Animal Welfare -- Animal Sheltering Practices -- Plan of the Book -- References -- 2 Best Practices in Animal Sheltering -- Nature and Maintenance of the Facility -- Data Management -- Population Management -- Animal Care -- Policy and Procedures and Health and Emergency Protocols -- Volunteers -- Animal Enrichment -- Adoption Practices -- Staffing and Training -- Community Relations -- Summary -- Check List for Recommended Best Practices -- References -- Further Reading -- 3 Methodology -- The Case and Legal Environment -- State Guidelines and Model Policy -- Local Animal Control Ordinances -- Shelter Licensing and Oversight -- The Data -- Traits of Responding Shelters -- Summary -- References -- 4 Activities and Practices -- Nature/Maintenance of the Facility -- Data Management -- Population Management -- Animal Care in Shelter -- Health and Emergency Protocols -- Volunteers -- Animal Enrichment -- Adoption Practices -- Staffing and Training -- Community Relations -- Practice and Activity Dimensions -- Summary -- Check List for Recommended Best Practices -- References -- 5 Relationships Among Shelter Traits and Activities -- Shelter Resources and Staffing -- Resources, Staffing, Training, and Activities -- Correlations Among Activities -- Summary -- Findings Counter to Common Expectations -- Reference -- 6 Which Shelter Activities are Associated With Positive Outcomes? -- Outcome Variables -- Barriers to, and Facilitators of, Success -- Factors Affecting Outcomes -- Traits of Shelters and Outcomes -- Activities and Outcomes

This article details the extent and import of the stray and feral dog problem in the City of Detroit in the context of regime and network theories of governance. Using data drawn from a survey of animal welfare service providers, this article provides a description of the complex and essentially grass roots service provision network currently in place to address the problem. The primary cause of the roaming dog problem in the city is the poor economy and the problem is worse in the most distressed neighborhoods. Several factors serve as barriers to addressing the issue. First, the actual number of roaming dogs is a question of contention in the city. Second, weaknesses in the city governing system and scarce resources have limited the public response to the problem. As a result, services are provided by an unstable and fragmented network of nonprofit organizations largely located outside the city of Detroit itself.

This research explores the relative effectiveness of a comprehensive set of local economic development incentives and focuses on two questions: What contributions do common development tools make to the economic health of municipalities?; and, Are there other types of local activities, not typically considered as development tools, that might be more effective in contributing to local economic prosperity? It finds that the factors most consistently and positively related to economic health are investments in the downtown, spending on basic local public services, and using no economic development incentives at all. These findings suggest one primary policy recommendation: the wisest course of action for most cities would be to eschew particularized development incentives, especially those that require tax expenditures.

This research explores relationships between diversity of local populations and economic well-being: specifically, the connections between foreign-born populations, other measures of community diversity, and local economic health. Using data from the population of mid-sized Canadian cities, I conclude that there is a significant relationship between immigration and health. Several other aspects of diversity—language, visible minority status, and religion—are also related to economic health, but only the correlation with foreign born remains significant in multiple regression. The extent that population growth is dependent on immigration and the clear dispersion of immigrants to mid-sized communities in Canada is an argument for greater attention to public policies that facilitate settlement both on humanitarian grounds and to foster local economic development.

The evidence regarding the extent of planning for local economic development decisions is mixed, and there is a general dearth of studies that examine whether rational planning is tied to policy choices in any systematic way. The research reported here rests on two premises. The first is the simple assumption that for planning to play an integral part in the economic development policy process there should be some empirical connection between local economic development goals—what officials want to achieve—and the economic development strategies they pursue. The second premise, based on extant literature, is that Canadian cities have different and more institutionally integrated planning traditions and practices than those in the USA, and hence should evidence a closer link between development goals and policies. Based on a survey of all of the municipalities in the USA and Canada with populations over 10 000, it is concluded that for US cities goals do not appear to correlate with discrimination among economic development policies; that is, planning is not related to the selection of activities. On the other hand, in Canada, cities' goals are related to specific policies in a more logical or rational fashion. In short, it appears that economic development planning is tied to the selection of policies to a greater extent in Canadian cities than in the USA.

AbstractAlthough there is a large body of research attempting to identify the correlates of tax abatements, the question of why cities abate taxes at widely differing rates—or indeed, not at all despite state enabling legislation allowing them—has never been completely answered. Based on an examination of tax abatement data representing the history of abatements in Michigan, the article concludes that abatement patterns can be best understood when past abatement behaviors and the nature of the local employment base are included in the analysis. In the case of the number of abatements granted, it appears that both these forces—along with the general economy, governmental structural and process factors—are important in understanding abatement behavior. When the total value of abatements is considered, industrial mix appears most critical. Once municipalities start giving tax abatements they continue to do so. And, having concentrations of transportation‐related industries and food/consumer products are traits that appear to lead to that initial push for abatements.

AbstractThis commentary focuses on three points related to the debate about urban governmental restructuring: existing conflicts in the literature regarding the outcomes of local government consolidation; insights about consolidation based on an assessment of the amalgamation of twelve municipal units creating the new city of Ottawa; and, a discussion of a variety of methodological and political factors that may well account for the continuing inconsistency in academic assessments of structural change in local government. One possible explanation for the latter conflict is that governmental reorganization does not really make things substantially different in terms of taxes and services, that is, those outcomes most directly experienced by the average citizen. Over the long term other forces, such as intergovernmental relations and the economy, will tend to negate most of the initial effects of change. While there are likely to be winners and losers related to power in government or regime, it will be argued that in large part, for most citizens, governmental reorganization produces the same governance on a different day.

This commentary focuses on three points related to the debate about urban governmental restructuring: existing conflicts in the literature regarding the outcomes of local government consolidation; insights about consolidation based on an assessment of the amalgamation of twelve municipal units creating the new city of Ottawa; &, a discussion of a variety of methodological & political factors that may well account for the continuing inconsistency in academic assessments of structural change in local government. One possible explanation for the latter conflict is that governmental reorganization does not really make things substantially different in terms of taxes & services, that is, those outcomes most directly experienced by the average citizen. Over the long term other forces, such as intergovernmental relations & the economy, will tend to negate most of the initial effects of change. While there are likely to be winners & losers related to power in government or regime, it will be argued that in large part, for most citizens, governmental reorganization produces the same governance on a different day. 46 References. Adapted from the source document.