4. U.S. Deaths Are Down. Deaths of healthy and treatable pets down to 2.7 million. Shelter deaths have plummeted since 1
Saving all of our healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats by 2015 is not only possible…
It’s probable.
Fewer Pets Are Entering Shelters
2
•
Pet lovers are re-homing their own pets
•
Successful spay/neuter programs
•
Managed intake
•
New initiatives keep cats out of shelters
Adoptions Are Up • Free adoption events – increase new homes – bust the myths that justify euthanasia • Adopted pets in homes rose from 27% in 2008 to 29.5% in 2010 3
U.S. Deaths Are Down Deaths of healthy and treatable pets down to 2.7 million Shelter deaths have plummeted since 1970 Shelter Pet Deaths
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Save Rate
Deaths per Thousand People
1970
23 Million
12%
112
1996
6 Million
42%
23
2010
3.4 Million
55%
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2015
700,000
90%
2
Projected
The U.S. population is growing, and more households are adding four-legged family members Dogs & Cats in Homes
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More and more animal welfare resources are coming into play Funding from Foundations
6
More shelter veterinarians are keeping shelter pets healthy and rehabilitating sick and injured pets • 24 out of 28 veterinary schools have shelter medicine programs • The number of trained shelter medicine specialists is growing by leaps and bounds 7
A growing number of communities are proving it can be done
At Least 200 No-Kill Communities In 2011/2012
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Live Release Rate
Deaths/1,000 People
Northwest, CO (4 counties)
97%
.6
Albemarle County, VA
94%
1.7
Tompkins County, NY
92%
1.4
Washoe County, NV
92%
3.0
Berkeley, CA (4 cities)
90%
1.4
Dane County, WI
87%
1.4
The Public is On-Board • People think of their pets as family members • 71% of those polled say animal shelters should only be allowed to euthanize animals when they are too sick to be treated or too aggressive to be adopted 9
Shelter Pet Marketing is Everywhere
10 4
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The Shelter Pet Project has generated over $130 million in donated media placements on billboards, bus shelters, radio and TV
•
Over 4 million visitors have used The Shelter Pet Project website; more than 2 million have viewed the PSAs on YouTube
The Task Ahead • The number of healthy and treatable pets losing their lives for lack of a home has dropped to 2.7 million • 17 million pet lovers predisposed to shelter adoption will be looking for a pet next year • We need to convince only 2.7 million out of 17 million to adopt from a shelter
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• That equates to just 4 additional pet adoptions per animal group per week
