Fewer animals are being adopted from US shelters this year

Fewer people in the U.S. have adopted pets from shelters and rescues this year.

That’s according to data from national database Shelter Animals Count .

According to its midyear analysis, 82,000 fewer dogs and cats were adopted in 2024 compared to the same period a year ago. That’s a decline of 4%.

On the bright side, nearly 5% fewer animals were brought into shelters and rescues in 2024 compared to 2023. Still, this didn’t do much to alleviate capacities.

Despite intakes being lower, animals are enduring longer stays in shelters and populations are rising, the report said.

In the first half of 2024, 322,000 more animals have entered the system than left.

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One option to keep pets out of shelters is supported self-rehoming, according to Shelter Animals Count.

“Supported self-rehoming is a way for pet owners to directly find a new home for their pet, outside of the animal sheltering system,” the report said. “From January to June 2024, approximately 1 out of 5 of these would-be owner surrenders resulted in an adoption thus far, and almost 10% of the original pet owners ended up choosing to keep their pets instead of rehoming through any channel.”

About 48% of dogs in shelters are adults. Approximately 25% are young adults, 17% are puppies, and 10% are seniors, the report says.

Nearly half of dogs in shelters are medium-sized, ranging in weight from 26 to 60 pounds. Large dogs, between 61 and 100 pounds, account for almost 30% of dogs in shelters, and small dogs under 25 pounds make up 17%. About 2% are extra-large dogs over 101 pounds.

About 56% of both cats and dogs brought into shelters this year were strays, while 32% were surrendered, the data shows.

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