11 Facts About Animal Homelessness

1. 5 to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year.
    
2. 3 to 4 million dogs and cats are killed every year because shelters are too full and there aren’t enough adoptive homes.
    
3. Homeless animals outnumber homeless people 5 to 1.
    
4. Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born will find a permanent home.
    
5. The main reasons animals are in shelters: owners give them up, or animal control finds them on the street.
    
6. According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), less than 2 percent of cats and only 15 to 20 percent of dogs are returned to their owners.
    
7. 25 percent of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.
    
8. Over 20 percent of people who leave dogs in shelters adopted them from a shelter.
    
9. It’s impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the U.S. Estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million.
    
10. Only 10 percent 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.
     
11. Many strays are lost pets that were not kept properly indoors or provided with identification.

Check out these ways you can help your local animal shelter. GO