CNBNews

According to Annual Data Report from Best Friends Animal Society 

KANAB, Utah (June 14, 2023) —Best Friends Animal Society, a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of cats and dogs in shelters by 2025, recently released its annual data report which gives the most accurate and comprehensive national overview of the number of dogs and cats that enter and exit shelters in a given year. Cats continue to be the most at-risk population in New Jersey shelters. Last year, 97% of the pets killed in state animal shelters were cats, despite only 68% of intaked animals being cats. The full state data is below and city-speicifc statistics can be found in the link above. 

New Jersey reflected what the data showed nationally: the number of dogs and cats killed in U.S. shelters had a setback, with an increase to around 378,000, up from 355,000 in 2021. This was largely due to shelters experiencing higher intakes and lower adoptions. Targeted programming proven to save more lives, including partnerships between no-kill and not yet no-kill shelters, as well as shelters and rescue groups, Best Friends staff embeds, cat and big-dog-focused initiatives, and advocacy work can help fix the problem.  

Progressive community cat programs put in place by shelters like Antietam Humane Society and York County SPCA greatly improved cat lifesaving in eastern Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, shelters in southern New Jersey continue to kill community cats.  

"New Jersey lags behind other states with the implementation of laws and ordinances that allow for robust shelter-neuter-return programming for community cats,” said Dr. Ken Sieranski, Executive Director of Homeward Bound. “As a result of the state mandated seven-day stray hold period for cats, as well as ordinances in many municipalities that don't allow for return of even feral cats to the community, New Jersey shelters must combat overcrowding and disease spread at levels unseen in other states that have enacted more progressive legislation." 

"Legislation was filed again in the 2022-2023 session to save outdoor cats' lives,” said Kelsey Gilmore-Futeral, Legislative Attorney, Best Friends Animal Society. “A2275/S179 would remove the remaining policy barriers shelters are using to continue to trap and euthanize healthy outdoor cats. We are hopeful with Assemblywoman Murphy's and Senator Stack's leadership, New Jersey will pass this great bill and become the nation's next no-kill state." 

Individuals can help save lives by choosing to adopt from a shelter or rescue group instead of purchasing from a breeder or store, spay or neuter their pets, foster kittens or an adult dog, volunteer, donate, and advocate for proven lifesaving programming for pets. 

About the data 

For the past seven years, Best Friends has spearheaded a one-of-a-kind extensive data collection process that involves coordinated outreach to every shelter in America followed by additional research, data analysis, and technology development. The dataset is the most comprehensive on U.S. sheltered animals, and is based on data collected directly from shelters, state and local coalitions, government websites, and FOIA requests. From this, 95% of the animal intake in U.S. shelters is known, 5% is estimated. Best Friends has the most recently available annual data for 85% of shelters nationwide. 

*A 90 percent save rate is the nationally recognized benchmark to be considered “no-kill,” factoring that approximately 10 percent of pets who enter shelters have medical or behavioral circumstances that warrant humane euthanasia rather than killing for lack of space. 

About Best Friends Animal Society  

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters by 2025. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to around 378,000. Best Friends runs lifesaving programs across the country, as well as the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary. Working collaboratively with a network of more than 4,200 animal welfare and shelter partners, and community members nationwide, Best Friends is working to Save Them All®. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.