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Reducing Barriers and Expanding Access to Improve Adoption Outcomes Every summer, many animal shelters and rescues experience increased intake, making it even more important to ensure pets continue moving into homes. At a time when many organizations are stretched for space, staff capacity, and resources, even small improvements in the adoption process can make a […] The post Reducing Barriers and…
Data Drop: A Closer Look at Post-Holiday Trends in Lost Pets Ahead of the July 4th holiday, conversations across the animal welfare community often focus on keeping pets safe, especially as fireworks and celebrations can increase the likelihood of dogs becoming lost. Recent Shelter Animals Count data reinforces just how consistent these trends can be. […] The post Data Drop: A Closer Look at…
Data Drop: A Closer Look at Age and Reunification Trends for Lost and Found Pets In our 2025 Annual Data Report, Shelter Animals Count examined national Lost & Found trends, finding that 638,000 dogs and cats were returned to their owners, a 3% decrease (21,000 fewer animals) compared to 2024. While reunification outcomes remain a […] The post Data Drop: A Closer Look at Age and Reunification…
Memorial Day and Stray Intake: What the Data Shows Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, a time for travel, gatherings, and time spent outdoors. It’s also a time when animal shelters across the country begin to see an increase in stray intake. According to Shelter Animals Count’s 2025 data, the day after Memorial […] The post Memorial Day and Stray Intake: What the Data Shows appeared…
Every year on National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, we celebrate adoptions and the thousands of shelters and rescues that make those adoptions possible. Adoption in the U.S. doesn’t happen in one place or at one scale. It happens across a connected system of organizations of vastly different sizes, each playing a distinct role. Using […] The post Data Drop: How Organization Size Shapes Intakes and…
What 2025 Kitten Data Tells Us and How Shelters Can Prepare for Kitten Season in 2026 Each year, kitten season brings a wave of tiny arrivals into the animal welfare system. In 2025, the story (and the data) regarding those kittens looks different than it has in the past. Thanks to expanded animal level data […] The post Preparing for Kitten Season 2026: Looking at Analysis from 2025 Annual Data…
Published: March 23, 2026 National Puppy Day on March 23rd is a great moment to highlight the youngest dogs entering shelters and rescues across the country. According to the 2025 data from Shelter Animals Count, puppies eight weeks and younger made up 11% of all community intakes (all intakes minus transfers in), underscoring how frequently very young animals rely […] The post National Puppy Day…
2025 Altered Status at Intake Data In honor of Spay/Neuter Awareness Month this February, we’re highlighting new insights from our 2025 annual report on the sterilization status of pets entering shelters. In 2025, 25% of dogs and 23% of cats arrived at shelters already spayed or neutered. Combined, just 24% of all pets were altered […] The post Altered Status at Intake for 2025 – Spay/Neuter…
With the release of our 2025 Annual Data Report, both of our public dashboards—the National Animal Welfare Statistics Dashboard and the State‑Level Statistics Dashboard—have been updated with 2025 data. You can now explore a full decade of national and state trends, made possible by SAC’s continuous data collection since 2016. This update also expands coverage […] The post SAC Dashboards Updated…
Data shows overall stability, species- specific shifts, and ongoing capacity pressures across U.S. shelters and rescues Shelter Animals Count (SAC), the national database for animal sheltering statistics and a program of the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), has released its 2025 Annual Data Report, offering the most comprehensive look […] The post Shelter…
