Latest U.S. data shows shelter killing down to 4.4 million a year

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

Rapid progress against pet overpopulation in some of the
fastest-growing parts of the Sunbelt and the Midwest combined with
continued low shelter killing volume in the Northeast and Northwest
to bring estimated total U.S. shelter killing in 2001 down to 4.4
million–the lowest toll on record.
Our 2001 estimate is projected from data covering every major
shelter in cities and states including 42% of the current U.S. human
population of 281 million. The shelter tolls in 1999 and 2000 were
almost identical, at 4.5 million and 4.6 million, with the
difference being in how numbers were rounded off.

ANIMAL PEOPLE has produced annual estimates of U.S. shelter
killing, projected from the most recent available state and city
data, since 1993. We used all data available in 1997 and 1998.
Otherwise, we have used only data tabulated during the three most
recent fiscal years.
Estimated U.S. shelter killing in 1992 was 5.7 million–about
a third of the 17.8 million annual toll estimated in 1985 by the
American Humane Association. Although the AHA estimate in hindsight
seems to have been too high by about five million, ANIMAL PEOPLE has
assembled historical data which suggests that it would have been
accurate circa 1980, and that U.S. shelter killing probably peaked
at about 23.4 million in 1970.
Evaluating the data fairly and in context requires taking
into account the evident regional differences. Most of the lowest
rates of shelter killing per 1,000 humans are clustered in the
Northeast, with the highest in the South, except around Washington
D.C. and in some of the more affluent parts of Florida.
The low Northeastern and D.C. area figures appear to result
from high-density living, associated with low rates of pet-keeping;
cold winters, the D.C. area excepted, which inhibit the survival of
late-born feral kittens and suppress estrus in dogs and cats,
decreasing their litter frequency; a relatively strong humane
infrastructure to encourage neutering; and animal control agencies
which have historically not picked up free-roaming cats.
The high Southern figures conversely reflect suburban
populations, high pet ownership, warm winters, and a general lack
of access to low-cost neutering.
Animal population analysts Peter Marsh and Bob Christiansen
have found in separate studies of data from California, Georgia,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, and North Carolina that the poorest
counties in each state kill dogs
and cats at up to four times the rate of the richest.
Animals killed YEAR 1,000s Animals
per 1,000 people of people killed

New Hampshire 2.2 2000 1,201 2,575
San Francisco 2.6 2001 747 1,942
Ithaca NY 3.9 2001 96 373
New York City 5.2 2000 8,009 41,207
NEW JERSEY 5.8 2000 8,414 48,551
San Diego 5.8 2001 2,820 16,463
MAINE 6.3 2001 1,275 8,000
Rochester NY 6.3 1999 716 4,511
COLORADO 8.3 2001 4,301 119,340
Missoula 8.4 2000 89 748
Buffalo/Erie 8.5 2000 926 7,871
Lawrence KS 8.6 2000 78 671
MARYLAND 8.7 2000 5,172 45,000
Milwaukee 10.5 1999 912 9,576
Seattle 11.2 1999 1,655 18,536
Anchorage AK 11.6 1999 255 2,958
OREGON 11.8 2000 3,421 40,505
Chicago 11.8 2001 2,800 33,098
ContraCosta CA 11.8 2000 931 11,000
Orlando/Orange 12.6 2000 896 11,290
St. Louis 13.4 2001 1,631 21,855
St. Petersburg 13.7 2001 922 12,600
Las Vegas 13.9 1999 1,162 16,152
Ft. Laud/Miami 14.1 2001 5,007 70,514
Stillwater OK 14.3 1999 39 558
Los Angeles 14.4 1999 9,214 132,681
Ft. Lauderdale 14.6 2000 1,623 23,696
Riverside CA 15.0 2001 1,531 23,000
Sacramento 24.9 1999 1,647 41,000
Reno/Washoe NV 15.2 2000 320 4,864
U.S. AVERAGE 15.7 (sample of 42%)
Lincoln NE 15.3 2001 263 4,018
Carson City NV 15.5 1999 49 760
Pittsburgh 15.8 1999 341 5,388
Clark Cnty WA 17.4 2001 345 6,000
Columbia SC 17.6 2001 321 5,666
Honolulu Cnty 17.7 2000 865 15,309
UTAH 17.8 2002 2,233 39,772
Austin TX 19.6 1999 731 14,328
New Orleans 20.0 2000 485 9,700
Phoenix/Mesa 20.3 1999 2,784 56,515
VIRGINIA 20.9 2000 6,873 143,850
Knoxville 20.9 2001 382 8.000
Tucson/Pima 21.3 2001 844 18,000
Volusia FL 21.6 2001 443 9,563
Houston 22.0 2000 3,400 74,825
Baton Rouge 22.3 2000 212 4,728
Atlanta region 22.4 2001 4,152 94,256
Sioux Falls SC 22.6 2001 148 3,345
Indianapolis 22.7 2001 860 19,603
Pasco Cnty FL 22.8 2001 345 7,880
Richland OH 23.1 1999 127 2,933
Birmingham 26.3 2000 662 17,400
Little Rock 28.4 1999 178 5,055
Shelby Cnty AL 28.4 1999 141 4,004
El Paso TX 29.4 2001 680 20,000
Evansville IN 29.2 2001 121 3,561
Dearborn IN 29.7 2000 14 416
Jefferson LA 30.8 2000 448 13,786
Chilicothe MO 31.1 2001 15 453
Oklahoma City 31.6 2001 506 16,000
Dallas 31.9 2000 2,062 65,810
San Antonio 33.0 2001 1,393 46,000
Jacksonville 34.0 2000 779 26,486
Wichita 34.9 1999 448 15,635
Lake County FL 35.0 2000 210 7,345
NORTH CAROLINA 35.0 1999 7,547 26,415
Chatanooga 36.1 2001 308 11,112
Charleston SC 36.4 2001 549 20,000
Hutchinson KS 37.1 2001 41 1,521
Merced CA 37.9 2001 211 8,000
Matanuska AK 38.6 1999 56 2,162
Inland Emp. CA 39.5 1999 3,114 123,003
Lafayette 40.7 1999 189 7,692
Corpus Christi 46.3 2001 314 14,541
Augusta 56.9 1999 191 10,868
Hamilton IN 60.5 2000 172 10,406
Hidalgo Cty TX 63.6 1999 535 34,026
Mobile Cnty AL 70.0 1999 399 27,930
Gulfport MS 73.9 2001 190 14,000
Valencia NM 75.8 2001 66 5,000
Thomas Cnty GA 81.0 2001 43 3.476