Animal Welfare Professionals

Can somebody please tell me how are reference numbers assigned?  Does each call or complaint that comes in get a reference number?  Only incidents that ACO's actually have to go into the field?  Just impounds?  

Say somebody calls and complains about a dog, when ACO arrives, the dog is gone, but the caller knows the owner.. is this assigned a reference number that is in sequence with numbers assigned to impounded animals?  Thanks. 

It will, ultimately, depend on what data you want/need to report on. Best database practices would tell you to have a separate ID number for each call so you can count the total number of calls that come in. There is shelter software, such as PetPoint, available that will help you track calls as well as impounds, etc. Ultimately, what you track will always come back to what you need to report on.