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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/apursley2012/rescue-retriever/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Rescue Retriever’s animal data comes from the Austin Animal Center shelter records dataset, a public dataset published by the City of Austin Open Data Portal. The application uses a static snapshot compiled directly into the application bundle — a subset of the full shelter population filtered to Dog records only. No data is fetched at runtime; all animal records are available immediately on page load.

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Data Source

AttributeValue
SourceAustin Animal Center Shelter Records
PublisherCity of Austin — austintexas.gov Open Data Portal
TypePublic open dataset
Record typeDog intake records
Loading methodCompiled as a static JavaScript module (data/animals.js) at build time

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Field Reference

Every animal record in the dataset is a plain JavaScript object with the following fields. All fields are present on every record.
FieldTypeExampleNotes
animalIdstring"A706953"Unique shelter identifier prefixed with "A"
namestring"Stella"May be an empty string for unnamed animals
animalTypestring"Dog"Always "Dog" — this dataset contains only dog records
breedstring"Labrador Retriever Mix"Visual estimate by shelter staff at intake; not genetically confirmed
colorstring"Yellow"Recorded coat color at intake
sexstring"Intact Female"Sex combined with reproductive status — e.g. "Intact Female", "Neutered Male", "Spayed Female"
ageWeeksnumber30.35Floating-point weeks; rounded to the nearest whole number for scoring and display
locationstring"Thorndale, Texas, US"Shelter or service-area location at intake
latitudenumber30.2672Approximate intake coordinates — see Geographic Coordinates
longitudenumber-97.7431Approximate intake coordinates — see Geographic Coordinates

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Example record

{
  animalId: "A706953",
  name: "Stella",
  animalType: "Dog",
  breed: "Labrador Retriever Mix",
  color: "Yellow",
  sex: "Intact Female",
  ageWeeks: 30.35,
  location: "Thorndale, Texas, US",
  latitude: 30.2672,
  longitude: -97.7431
}

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Breed Classification Limitations

The breed field reflects a visual assessment made by shelter staff at the time of intake — it is not the result of genetic testing or DNA panel analysis. Research on breed identification accuracy consistently shows agreement rates as low as 25–30% between visual assessments and DNA results for mixed-breed dogs. Shelter staff assess coat pattern, body shape, ear type, and other physical characteristics, all of which can be misleading. Rescue Retriever uses breed as one of three scoring criteria and surfaces animals as candidates for human review — it does not make final placement decisions. The scoring system intentionally awards partial credit even when breed does not match, ensuring visually ambiguous animals are not silently excluded.
Breed match is treated as a candidate flag, not a confirmation. An animal showing a high breed-match score should be considered a strong lead for in-person evaluation, not a guaranteed fit. Final rescue candidate selection always involves direct animal assessment by program staff.

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Age Estimation

The ageWeeks value is an estimated age based on physical examination at intake — not a verified birthdate. Shelter staff estimate age from dental wear, bone development, coat condition, and other physical indicators. Estimates for young puppies (under 12 weeks) are generally reliable; estimates for adult and senior dogs carry greater uncertainty. The application applies Math.round(ageWeeks) for all scoring comparisons and display values. The age range criteria for each rescue program use this rounded value consistently, so a dog recorded as ageWeeks: 155.7 is treated as 156 weeks and falls within the Water Rescue and Mountain Rescue maximum age threshold.

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Geographic Coordinates

The latitude and longitude values are approximate coordinates mapped to general shelter service areas, not precise locations tied to individual animal origins. Multiple animals sharing the same location string will typically have identical coordinate values. These coordinates are used exclusively for the geographic distribution scatter visualization in the Analytics view. They are exported in the CSV as four-decimal-place strings via .toFixed(4).
The geographic scatter plot in Analytics will show distinct clusters corresponding to the shelter’s service area geography — towns and communities around Austin, Texas. This clustering reflects where shelter intakes are logged, not necessarily where individual animals came from or where they were found.

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Static Snapshot

The dataset is compiled into the application bundle at build time as a static JavaScript module export. It represents a snapshot of shelter records at the time of compilation — it is not a live feed and does not update automatically. No runtime data fetching occurs; the full animal array is available synchronously from the module import. This design means:
  • Zero latency — no loading state or network dependency for animal data
  • Offline capable — the application works without any network connection
  • Reproducible — the same dataset is served to every user from every deployment of the same build
To refresh the dataset, the data/animals.js file must be updated and the application rebuilt.

Data Model

How animal records, rescue profiles, and program scores relate to each other at the type level.

Analytics

Breed, age, location, and program distribution charts powered by this dataset.

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