From Crisis to Change: The Story Behind the Animal Welfare Data Center

Date: 07/18/2025

A Rescue That Changed Everything

The Animal Welfare Data Center (AWDC) was founded in 2023, but its story began one year prior, with a simple act of compassion.

Co-founders Anthony and Lauren Robles volunteered to help transport two puppy litters and their mother dogs from a severely under-resourced facility in Southern California, to a rescue partner in Northern California. What they encountered was an alarming reflection of systemic issues facing many public shelters.

The shelter was overcrowded and understaffed. Basic health protocols weren’t followed. The staff handled animals without gloves, and no medical evaluations were conducted on the puppies before release. It was only after all of the rescue organization’s volunteer transports ensured all the puppies made it safely to their new foster homes that the Robles’ learned how conditions inside the shelter can impact the outcomes of rescue efforts. Within a couple of days, the rescue organization shared that the litters of puppies had been diagnosed with distemper, a dangerous and contagious disease prevalent in animal shelters, and only one of the litters would survive with their foster family.

For any organization to truly improve, it’s essential to thoroughly asses current conditions and use data to inform decisions, while staying grounded in core values and clearly defined goals. In the context of public animal care, however, a longstanding challenge is finding readily available information or clear guidelines that consistently prioritize animal health, life-saving programs, proper sanitation, and reduce the financial burden on fosters, adopters, rescue organizations, and the shelter workers that care for the animals in public facilities. These individuals often step up to address health issues that animals contract while in public facilities.

The good news is that much of the necessary data likely exists within current systems. The challenge lies in fully utilizing this information to make the necessary improvements.

From Personal Loss to Public Mission

Rather than walk away, Anthony and Lauren responded with action, and the experience became the catalyst for the creation of the Animal Welfare Data Center (AWDC).

Drawing on Anthony’s experience in technology and Lauren’s background in animal welfare, they founded the AWDC to address the systemic gaps they’ve witnessed firsthand, laying the groundwork for a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering shelters, rescuers, and public agencies with data-driven tools to protect animals and the people who care for them.

AWDC’s work focuses on what’s often invisible to the public: how unreliable, or incomplete data can undermine even the most dedicated shelter teams. AWDC goes beyond counting outcomes– it works to understand the full shelter lifecycle, assess quality of care, and evaluate the effectiveness of life-saving programs relative to available resources.

The Public Animal Shelter Lifecycle

“We founded this organization with a vision to create technology that benefits both human and animal welfare. Along the way, we discovered an opportunity to offer valuable training to professionals entering the tech field. By building collaborative teams that collect and analyze public data and develop real-world tools for community assistance, we provide practical experience that helps individuals launch careers in data science and technology. AWDC’s projects create a virtuous cycle—communities advance through learning while simultaneously contributing to human and animal welfare initiatives. Through our open-source research projects, we aim to enable technical professionals to both share their expertise and gain valuable experience, ultimately empowering communities to create positive change with modern tools and solutions.”

Lauren and Anthony Robles, Co-Founders