New data shows encouraging trend for pets in shelters

When the Humane Society of Jefferson County in Wisconsin simplified its pet adoption process with a streamlined application, adoption numbers for the 105-year-old animal welfare organization doubled in one year.

And when Nine Lives Foundation of Redwood City, California, expanded its outreach to work with more animal welfare groups, it increased cat spay/neuter surgeries by 60%.

Stories like these are emerging from nearly 800 animal shelters and rescue groups across the United States reporting statistics to the Shelter Pet Data Alliance, a pet lifesaving data hub created by Best Friends Animal Society.*

Data for the first nine months of 2024 shows an upswing in adoptions and a decrease in the number of pets killed in shelters compared with the same period in 2023. Assuming this trend continues through the end of the year, it would mark the first positive national trend in saving the lives of dogs and cats since 2020.

During the first nine months of 2024 across the country:

• Adoptions for both dogs and cats are up 4%.
• The number of dogs and cats killed in shelters is down 3.4%.
• Dog adoptions from municipal shelters are up almost 11%.
• Municipal shelters are still struggling with dog lifesaving, with the number of dogs entering shelters up slightly from 2023.

“While our data shows we are moving in the right direction, shelters can only be no-kill and remain no-kill when people choose to adopt from a shelter or rescue group instead of purchasing their pets,” Best Friends CEO Julie Castle says. “The data shows that we have an amazing opportunity to make every shelter across the country no-kill next year because of support from animal lovers nationwide.”

Since 2016 when Best Friends put a stake in the ground to take the country to no-kill in 2025, shelters across the country have been making steady progress. Nearly 2 out of every 3 U.S. shelters are already no-kill, and hundreds more are within reach of that goal.

“We have a huge opportunity to solve a problem that most Americans care deeply about, and that is saving our best friends,” Julie says. “Now, it’s on all of us to keep this positive momentum going and help make no-kill a reality next year.”

Increasing pet adoptions is one of the many ways shelters across the country are reaching and sustaining no-kill. And for the Humane Society of Jefferson County (HSJC) in Wisconsin, simple changes to its adoption application have made a big difference.

“We were using an outdated application created in the 1990s,” says Tom DeLadurantey, HSJC executive director. “It was five pages long and required multiple references, detailed records, proof of income, a home visit, etc. Our board decided to make it more people-friendly and nonjudgmental in the spirit that most people are good and well-meaning.”

[3.4% fewer animals were killed in shelters so far in 2024]

With a new, streamlined application in 2022, adoption numbers started climbing fast — from 636 in 2022 to 1,300 in 2024. And in 2025, they are expected to top 1,500.

HSJC’s approach is to care for the animals, yes, but also to view the community as a whole to help both people and pets.

“Our mission isn’t just saving animals because if it was, then we’d lose focus about finding the homes to adopt them,” Tom says. “We want to truly consider the human factor by also working with people in the community to help them better care for their animals.”

Nine Lives Foundation (NLF) in California, which is dedicated to providing safety and shelter for cats and kittens, this year performed its 6,000th spay/neuter surgery — a 60% increase from last year — with 2,500 of them for community cats from a trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) program.

Liam Montgomery, NLF executive director, says grants from Best Friends have made it possible for NLF to work with more than 50 other animal welfare groups, including the nearby Hayward Animal Shelter.

“We’ve taken in nearly 200 cats and kittens from Hayward, anything from neonatal to seniors,” says Liam. “We get them into foster care if needed, we get them spayed/neutered, anything needed to be adoption ready. When we take them in, they become Nine Lives cats, and we do not return them to Hayward. We adopt them out from our adoption center.”

Because it takes everyone working together to make a community no-kill, NLF also provides spay/neuter at discounted prices for other animal welfare groups so that their cats can be adopted, which creates more room to take in more animals. And by providing the same low-cost spay/neuter services for private clients, as well as community-wide TNVR services, NLF is helping to move all of San Mateo County to no-kill.

Despite positive signs, the nationwide data also indicates that shelters still need community help to bring the country to no-kill in 2025 and beyond. With the number of dogs entering shelters on the rise, municipal shelters will have to augment adoptions with transferring animals to other organizations that have more space, utilizing foster homes, and solving animal issues out in the community so that pets don’t need to enter the shelter at all.

“We are helping shelters and rescue groups promote more adoption events, reduce or eliminate adoption fees, and remove barriers to adoption,” says Brent Toellner, Best Friends senior director of lifesaving programs. “By reducing these barriers, we can truly make adoption the first option for people who are acquiring a new dog or cat."

[Animal shelters are partnering with a purpose]

Heading into 2025, Brent says Best Friends will be continually analyzing the data that comes in, adjusting tactics, and pushing hard to help as many shelters as possible achieve no-kill.

"Providing barrier-free adoptions, managing community cat programs, and working to solve as many as possible animal welfare problems outside the shelter environment are essential components," Brent says. "When shelters implement these programs well, success almost always follows."

^{*Best Friends Animal Society has the most comprehensive and accurate dataset in the industry, providing key insights and analytics from more than 7,900 organizations. The data provides a roadmap for shelters and rescue groups to achieve no-kill while also helping them identify animals in their care who are most at risk.}

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.