We Need More Rescues...
What's really happening with our animals?
Given that stray dogs and cats are packing up on our streets at increasing rates, we can clearly see that we need more fully funded rescues, more adopters, expanded access to sterilization assistance and education, as well as sound TNR programs. I believe that each county shelter should have a set dollar amount each year allocated to TNR resources. If they need more government funding, we should make it happen.
There are mayors and other county officials living in private mansions while the fate of the community remains on the back burner for future officials to face when the time comes. This pot is burning, nearly flaming, but many people just sit back and ignore it. Obviously, many people don’t even know these problems exist, so it falls on the informed individuals to spread the word.
2025 half year report, in comparison to, 2024 half year report
In the first half of 2025, we saw 2.8 million dogs and cats enter shelters and rescues. Thankfully, this is a 4% improvement compared to the first half of 2024. Of the 2.8 million animals that entered shelters and rescues, there were almost equal parts cats and dogs, at 1,410,000 dogs and 1,397,000 cats.
Among the intakes, shelters saw strays come in at 57% which is slightly lower than 2024. Owner surrenders increased from 30% to 31% while other sources remain at 12%. Government shelters took in 48% and municipal contracting shelters saw 23% of all community intakes. Private shelters accounted for 13% while rescues saw 16% of all community intakes in their facilities.
Of these intakes, only about half were adopted out at 991,000 dogs and 936,000 cats. So, the remaining animals were either euthanized, passed in shelter care (many old and sick souls abandoned in shelters) or they are still there just sitting around waiting for their people to scoop them up. Unfortunately, many of those waiting will be euthanized.
Overall, adoptions were 1% lower than 2024, but this makes sense as there were 4% less that entered shelter care.
Adoptions for large and medium breeds measured a 9% and 3% decrease, respectively, but small dogs saw an increase of 6%. This could be because the persistent stigma against larger dog breeds still runs rampant in our communities and the large dog lovers already have a full house and cannot take anymore. I personally don’t see a shortage of large or medium dogs in shelters, so I wouldn’t say it’s due to a lack of them.
We saw fewer senior and adult dog adoptions at a 6% and 2% decrease respectively, but juveniles experienced a 6% increase, compared to 2024. Adult and senior kitties each saw a 7% decrease in adoptions, so these are right there with the dogs’ numbers. Adult and senior adoption declines could be for many reasons, such as, lack of vet care funds, low home capacity, as well as a possible stigma against the adult babies. Many people want a young animal so they are easier to deal with -although, that is definitely not everyone!
Juvenile cats had a 6% increase in adoptions, placing kittens into many more homes than in 2024. This could be because the stray cat community is still popping those kittens out like it’s nothing and shelters are doing most of the grunt work. This is why I support government funded TNR programs -a colony of six can turn into thirty in no time. Cats can get pregnant as young as four months old and mating can be dangerous or even fatal.
Due to inbreeding, many females can also lack the ability to carry out a pregnancy to term so they may give birth to stillborns or genetically deficient kittens who will eventually pass away. Pregnancies can also be fatal for the mama cat -especially with no vet care.
From left to right we have Freckles (adopted), Bandit, and Woodstock, housed at GHHS.
Euthanasia
Among the non-lives outcomes in shelters, 88% of dogs were euthanized and 12% died or were lost in care, a combined decline of about 5% from 2024. In regards to the kitties, we saw euthanasia rates at 70% and the other 30% died or were lost in care, which -combined- is around a 1% increase.
Specifically, non-live outcomes for cats measure at 39% for kittens under 4 weeks old at intake and 19% were 4-8 weeks old. These are both a 2% increase compared to 2024. Adult and senior cats saw non-live outcomes decrease about 2% while the juveniles’ numbers remained the same.
Shelter Animals Count states that this data is mainly used by shelters and communities to see where early interventions and resource investments are the most critical. In my opinion, based on this data it would be appropriate for a larger portion of resources to be allocated specifically to pet sterilization and TNR programs. This is because if the majority of non-live outcomes remain in the 8-week and under category, we can assume that these are kittens being brought in as strays or from accidental litters at home.
Many pet owners do not have the available funds to sterilize their pets. If you think a low income family just shouldn’t have pets, then we’re back at square one: too few homes and streets flooded with strays. So to fix the problem at hand, it would make the most sense to provide resources for sterilization.
Unless you believe we should just euthanize any and every animal without a home, but I think that’s called something else…
We saw 164,000 dogs be euthanized and 126,000 cat euthanasias in the first half of last year. While I agree that this is the best course of action, regarding the bigger picture, this is still unacceptable. Of course there are irresponsible owners, owner deaths, and neglect/abuse cases, but one of the leading causes of overflowing shelters are accidental litters. I believe shelters have a hard enough time dealing with irresponsibility and neglect; therefore, pet sterilization and TNR assistance would not only relieve many shelters of a constant mass overflow, but it would clear many parts of the streets up as well.
For the future...
As humans, we have to do better and think about the future of our communities. While for me, it is mostly about the animals -they are my weakness- but it’s about more than that. Our children and elderly community members could potentially face severe threats as they walk the streets. Wild animals are exactly that -wild. In communities where we have dozens upon dozens of strays multiplying, we will continuously see more wild animal behavior from them. It’s possible our fellow community members could be viciously attacked and I don’t want to wait around until something as tragic as this happens.
In my opinion, it’s not a ‘what if’ it’s a ‘when and where.’
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