Facts about animal homelessness
Welcome to our blog , we want to tell 10 facts of animal homelessness! The 10 facts you want are below, and the sources for the facts are at the very bottom of the page.
- Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born will find a permanent home.
- The main reasons animals are in shelters: owners give them up, or animal control finds them on the street.
- Each year, approximately 2.7 million dogs and cats are killed every year because shelters are too full and there aren’t enough adoptive homes. Act as a publicist for your local shelter so pets can find homes.
- Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats.
- According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), less than 2% of cats and only 15 to 20% of dogs are returned to their owners.
- 25% of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.
- About twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that are relinquished by their owners.
- It’s impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States. Estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million.
- Only 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. Overpopulation, due to owners letting their pets accidentally or intentionally reproduce, sees millions of these “excess” animals killed annually.
- Many strays are lost pets that were not kept properly indoors or provided with identification.