Shelter Animals Count is the trusted source for collecting and sharing credible and accessible data to positively impact animals and communities. The Roanoke Valley SPCA tracks a wide variety of data and sends that information to the Shelter Animals Count. This data allows us to analyze the current state of sheltering, and explore ways to contribute to the advancement of animal welfare moving forward. It is important to our organization that we are using best practices in order to help more animals in our community.
Key Highlights of the 2020 report include:
COVID-19 Impacts
- In 2020 there were 23% fewer animals relinquished by their owners, 27% fewer strays, and 22% fewer animals in need of sheltering overall than in 2019.
- Because fewer animals entered the shelter system, there were also fewer outcomes overall, including 49% fewer sheltered animals euthanized.
- Adoptions were down 17% from 2019 across reporting agencies for 2020 due to fewer animals entering the sheltering system (see intake reporting).
Additional 2020 highlights
- Stray/at-large animals were the most common reasons animals were in need of sheltering – accounting for 1.5M intakes (46.9%) in 2020.
- Fewer pet owners gave up their pets in 2020 (753,847 relinquishments) than in 2019 (885,290 relinquishments), a 15% decrease.
- The number of cats and dogs in need of sheltering was pretty evenly split, with cats representing 50.7% and dogs representing 49.3%. Puppies & kittens represented nearly 1/3 (32.1%) of pets in need of sheltering.
- 53.5% of dogs and 60.7% of cats who were sheltered in 2020 were adopted that same year.
- 40.7% of dogs and 5.1% of cats who arrived as a stray in 2020 were reunited with their families.
- 16% of animals were transferred to other shelters who had the space and resources to help and 13.7% of cats were returned to the field.
- Overall, 87.8% of dogs and cats had live outcomes.
For the full report, visit: https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/data-reports