Delaware is a no-kill state for third year in a row

Best Friends Animal Society animal welfare organization released its sixth annual pet lifesaving dataset, which  gives a national overview of the number of dogs and cats that enter and exit U.S. shelters each year.

Once again, Delaware is a no-kill* state, with a shelter pet save rate of 90.89 percent. Of the 12,835 dogs and cats that entered Delaware shelters in 2020, all were saved.

This year, Delaware is joined by New Hampshire as the second state in the nation to achieve no-kill.

“This was a monumental year for cats and dogs in America’s shelters,” said Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society. “We saw communities, shelters, and individuals step up for animals in ways we couldn’t have imagined, and now we are closer than ever before to achieving our goal of no-kill by 2025.”

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted this year’s data, as many shelters and groups had to partially close or reduce services. Communities and individuals filled that gap through volunteering, fostering and adopting. As a result, fewer pets entered shelters and more lives were saved.

“This year’s progress has been exceptional, from what we have seen with community support and involvement, and the lifesaving numbers as a result. It is crucial that we build on this momentum to keep pets out of shelters and in loving homes where they belong. This is how we will get to no-kill,” Castle said.

Nationally, about 347,000 cats and dogs were killed in America’s shelters in 2020, down from 625,000 in 2019. This is the largest yearly reduction in dogs and cats killed in the nation’s shelters (44.5 percent) to date, putting the nation at an 83 percent save rate. Best Friends has the most comprehensive national data on sheltered animals, representing an estimated 93 percent of all sheltered dogs and cats in the country.

"Since we announced our no-kill goal, the number of cats and dogs killed in shelters has decreased by 76 percent, down from about 1.5 million in 2016. This is incredible progress, but we must never lose sight that there are still over 950 cats and dogs killed every day just because they do not have a safe place to call home,” Castle said.

For the past six years, Best Friends has spearheaded a one-of-a-kind, extensive data-collection process that involves coordinated outreach to every shelter in America followed by additional research, data analysis and technology development. The dataset is the most comprehensive on sheltered animals, based on data directly from shelters, state and local coalitions, government websites and even FOIA requests. This year, Best Friends launched a new user experience for its pet lifesaving dashboard, which displays the data clearly and further inspires community members through highlighting the areas of greatest need to help homeless pets in their communities.

*A 90 percent save rate is the nationally recognized benchmark to be considered “no-kill,” factoring that approximately 10 percent of pets entering shelters have medical or behavioral circumstances that warrant humane euthanasia rather than killing for lack of space.