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California's conundrum: Report shows the state with the highest animal shelter deaths in America also saves the most pets
Best Friends Animal Society has released its 2020 pet lifesaving findings, which gives a national overview of the number of dogs and cats that enter shelters each year in the United States, and the number of dogs and cats that are leaving those shelters alive.
The year-over-year data shows that the number of dogs and cats killed annually nationally has dropped from about 733,000 in 2018 to 625,000 during 2019 (or about 1,700 killed per day). Across the U.S., about 5.4 million dogs and cats entered shelters in 2019, and 4.2 million were saved making the national save rate 79.02 percent (2018 was 76.6 percent).
“We are seeing continued momentum and progress towards the goal of ending the killing of dogs and cats in U.S. shelters by the year 2025, with the overall number of pets being killed in the U.S. continuing to go down and the number of shelters that are no kill going up,” said Julie Castle, chief executive officer, Best Friends Animal Society.
In addition, this year, Best Friends is releasing an inaugural state-by-state ranking that shows where the most dogs and cats need to be saved, and where the most dogs and cats are being killed.
Currently, the state in the country with the most shelter deaths is California, with 100,239 dogs and cats killed in 2019. Cats are getting killed in California at the rate of nearly four to every one dog, reflecting outdated laws, ordinances and road blocks in some communities that prevent the implementation of effective trap-neuter-return programs that are proven to save lives and reduce the free-roaming cat population.
Overall, California has a 76 percent save rate, with 90 percent considered to be the benchmark for no-kill.
However, there are strong signs of progress and commitment across California, with the number of dogs and cats dying in shelters declining from 110,239 in 2018 to 100,239 in 2019, an approximate 10 percent decrease. Additionally, California saved 540,248 dogs and cats in 2019, the most of any state in the country. And recently, California Governor Gavin Newsom and the state legislature agreed to provide $5 million to fund lifesaving work in California by the pioneering experts at the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program.
The top five states where the most dogs and cats need to be saved are California, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, who together make up more than 50 percent of the nation’s shelter killing of dogs and cats.
Over the past three years, Best Friends has spearheaded a first-of-its-kind extensive data collection process that involved coordinated outreach to every shelter in America followed by additional research, data analysis, and technology development.
To create the most comprehensive data set on animal welfare ever published, Best Friends collected data directly from shelters, state and local coalitions, government websites, and even FOIA requests.
The Best Friends 2020 dataset – consisting of statistics collected during 2019 – of U.S. shelters has a total net intake of 5,360,060 animals representing 4,850 known shelters.
Of this intake total, 92 percent of the data is based on collected information from 3,608 brick and mortar shelters. The remaining 8 percent is estimated to cover the uncollected shelters and their respective counties.
The solution to getting to no-kill lies within individual communities and its residents, as Castle illustrated.
“Best Friends has always believed that anyone can help homeless pets. You don’t need a rescue label, special credentials or permission to help save animals. Individual community members are the no-kill movement’s greatest resource,” she said. “Putting this data directly into the hands of the public allows individual community members and advocates like the members of our 2025 Action Team to gain a better understanding of exactly which shelters and types of pets are most in need of help and helps to connect them to those shelters.”
To view the 2020 lifesaving findings and find out about adopting, fostering, volunteering, donating, or spaying/neutering in your community, visit http://bestfriends.org .