Animal shelters: What’s your type?

We often use the term “shelter” as a kind of shorthand for the roughly 3,900 brick-and-mortar animal shelters in the U.S. — which does not include the thousands of foster-based rescue groups. These shelters can be sorted into three types: municipal, private nonprofits with government contracts, and private nonprofits without government contracts. The differences matter more than the shared name suggests. Knowing how your local shelter operates can help you understand the ways you can get involved to save lives.

Municipal shelters are funded and operated by the city or county in which they’re located. These organizations are sometimes situated within the police or sheriff’s department, which provides field services (e.g., picking up stray animals). This same department might also house animals. Municipal shelters report to local governing bodies (e.g., city councils, county commissions).

Private nonprofit shelters fall into two categories: those with government contracts and those without. Private shelters with contracts operate much like municipal shelters, although they often provide sheltering but not field services. These contracted shelters often report to both a board (e.g., regarding administrative and operational issues) and a local governing body (e.g., regarding contractual obligations).

Private nonprofits without government contracts operate independently of municipalities, though they will often coordinate efforts with other entities (e.g., taking in animals from municipal and contract shelters). These organizations report only to their boards.

Animal admissions at municipal and contract shelters include a large share of strays and owner-relinquished animals, whereas admissions at shelters without contracts tend to be mostly animals taking in from other organizations or relinquished by their owners. Municipal and contract shelter also tend to see the largest number of admissions, although this varies considerably.

Here is a breakdown of key metrics at the time of this writing (March 2026).

Many communities, especially larger ones, have municipal and private organizations providing animal services. To learn more about the organization(s) serving your community — and how you can help — check out Best Friends’ pet lifesaving dashboard.