2025 Mid-Year National Data Report: Lifesaving Improved by 19% in the First Half of 2025

In the first half of 2025, over 700 fewer animals were killed than in the same time period the previous year at Fort Worth Animal Care & Control (FWACC) in Fort Worth, Texas — despite a distemper outbreak that not only put dogs in the shelter at risk but also meant pausing lifesaving transports.

How did they do it? Superintendent Anastasia Ramsey credits a number of lifesaving programs implemented to ensure healthy dogs didn't come into the shelter where they risked getting exposed to the disease.

This included restarting a previously-shelved "friendly finder" program — with a clear operational framework and SOP — so that lost dogs could be fostered by their finder or another community member, rather than enter the shelter. The finder and other community members are encouraged to be involved with a pet's outcome, as well, like helping them get adopted if they do not return to their owner.

FWACC also upped their pet retention efforts — with options like training and behavioral support, to help pets stay with their family. As Anastasia puts it, we "try to make people aware of their offerings before it gets to the point of surrender."

Altogether just over 2,000 fewer animals entered the shelter from January–June 2025, compared with the same time frame the previous year.

Check out the Friendly Finder Playbook to help start and grow a program at your organization!

And don’t miss these pet retention and community support resources.  

The Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center in Tampa, Florida, reduced their intake by over 900 cats and dogs in the first half of 2025, compared with the same time frame in 2024. 

Director Scott Trebatoski attributes this reduction in intake to a number of factors. Chief among them, robust pet support programs to help keep pets with their families whenever possible — including providing medical care, food, and supplies. Scott also credits being patient while letting the programs, which have been in place for several years now, hit their stride.

“I think the key for their success is letting them work — giving them time," Scott says.

Scott says the pet support programs are successful 83% of the time — he meticulously tracks the data — and not only reduce intake, but also save the shelter money. He estimates an average cost of care of $585 for animals who come into the shelter compared to an average of less than $100 for retention services.  

“I only want your animals when nothing else can be done,” Scott says to his community. "And hopefully you never have to bring your animal here.”

Craven-Pamlico Animal Services Center in James City, North Carolina, increased their transfers out to rescue organizations by nearly 250 in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 — which Animal Shelter Operations Supervisor Alyssa Merget says reflects intentional, relationship-driven work.

Alyssa and her team have prioritized getting to know their rescue partners — to help make these relationships as easy, positive, and sustainable as possible. That means learning and being responsive to things like the types of pets a partner can and can't work with; what time of day is best for them to pull animals from the shelter, which sometimes means before or after normal opening hours; and whether the partner wants to do spays and neuters at their own vet or have them done at the shelter. 

It even extends to any given rescue partner's preferred mode of contact — though on that front, these days, it's pretty universal.

“Most of my rescues," Alyssa says, "I'm communicating with through text.” 

Craven-Pamlico handles logistics whenever possible — arranging health certificates and transportation, with nearly all transports conducted by volunteers. 

These days the shelter is also broadening their transfer program to involve local partners in their "found foster" program — through which found pets can go directly into rescue, with the agreement that if an owner comes forward during the stray hold period the pet will be returned. It's outside the box thinking that helps gets pets out of the shelter through transfers! 

The Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center in Riverside, California, increased their transfers in by over 100 pets from January to June 2025, compared to the same period last year. This is part of their larger effort to expand support for municipal partners in need — including those impacted by this year's devastating wildfires.

“Our staff takes pride in knowing that by saying 'yes' to a transfer, we’re not just helping an animal,” says Executive Director Carrie Ridgway. “We’re also helping our colleagues in shelters that are stretched thin, understaffed, and overwhelmed.” 

But of course, Mary S. Roberts needed to make room themselves, to expand their support for municipal partners in this way. That meant moving pets through their system more efficiently by streamlining the intake process, leaning more heavily on fosters, and making the adoption process more welcoming.

Carrie expects these changes to be long-lasting, speaking to who this organization is, and who they want to be. “When we shift our mindset from gatekeeping to welcoming, we not only save more lives — we build stronger, lasting connections with the community that sustains us.”

Indianapolis Animal Care Services in Indiana increased adoptions by nearly 300 pets in the first half of 2025 — while also decreasing the number of animals killed by almost 400.

Director Kelly LaRoche cites a number of changes that helped. For example, the shelter's marketing now has a heightened focus on urgent pets, and found pets who can be more quickly adopted with the increased attention, if they aren't reclaimed during their stray hold periods. 

More attention-getting photos and incredibly cute adoption promos also help get pets into homes. So does building a more welcoming and barrier-free adoption practice.

A bigger focus on pathway planning includes morning rounds and a daily afternoon pathway planning meeting, which is not only working to reduce the pets’ lengths of stay but is also helping with staff turnover and morale.

“I think just doing that was such a shift for our staff,” Kelly says. “We finally have a really good team that is sticking with us. My goal was to find a team and to nurture attitudes of non-bias and non-judgment toward people.” 

Who wants to help save cats' lives? The Jacksonville Humane Society in Jacksonville, Florida, had an idea, when they decided to start recruiting new volunteers to expand their community cat programs this year.

JHS did direct, targeted outreach to people they thought would want to be a part of the bigger TNVR effort — like people who'd already brought cats in through the shelter's TNVR program in the past, those people's cat trapping associates, and even community members who'd simply shown an interest in cats.

In 2025, this program is now regularly supported by a group of around 10 volunteers– a small and mighty team that has already accomplished a lot. These new cat crusaders not only helped with trapping and transport, but helped to identify areas of the city and surrounding areas with cats who needed to be spayed, neutered, and vaccinated. (Data gleaned from kitten intake records also showed where TNVR was needed.)

Thanks to these efforts, over 350 more cats got fixed and vaccinated in January-July 2025, compared with the first six months of 2024!