From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

DENVER––A survey of
1,100 U.S. animal shelters undertaken
by the National Council on Pet
Population Study and Policy indicates
that 47% of animal intakes in 1994
came from animal control, 29% from
owner surrenders, and 23% from other
sources. Euthanasia rates were 56% for
dogs, 72% for cats, just as ANIMAL
PEOPLE earlier projected from separate
state shelter surveys; 16% of dogs
were returned to owners, but only 2%
of cats. However, adoption rates were
nearly equal, at 25% for dogs and 23%
for cats. Of the reporting shelters,
53% were public animal control agencies,
22% were nonprofit humane societies,
and 16% were humane societies
holding animal control contracts.

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

The following table states animal shelter
euthanasias per thousand human residents, all
shelters combined, for 21 urban jurisdictions
whose complete statistics for at least one of the
past three years are on file here.
Please note: over the whole U.S.,
those animal control jurisdictions with a mandate
to pick up cats tend to have higher euthanasia
rates than those that do not. Since rural and suburban
jurisdictions usually don’t have a mandate
to pick up cats, while urban jurisdictions do, the
overall U.S. norm, stated below, is probably
much lower than the norm for big cities, which
we have not calculated. The cat pickup mandates
of the cities below are essentially similar,
but other cat-related policies vary widely.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

Of 1,561 animals surrendered by owners
to the Orlando Humane Society in May and
June, 1,071 were surrendered for the overlapping
reasons “can’t keep,” “landlord won’t allow,” and
“moving/lost job.” Just 734 were surrendered for
the also overlapping reasons “originally stray,”
“too many,” and “unwanted litter.” The only
other reasons for surrender cited significantly
often, among 36 choices, were “can’t care for,”
cited 288 times, and “owner request put to sleep,”
cited 204 times, probably chiefly in connection
with sick or injured animals. In balance, changes
of owner circumstance causing an animal to lose a
home would appear to be far more frequent than
cases of surplus. Since the end of May and beginning
of June are the months in which the most people
relocate, the importance of change of circumstance
in owner surrender may have been magnified
during the survey period––but even if it was,
the numbers indicate that programs aimed at keeping
animals in homes, especially rental homes,
now have as much potential to lower animal shelter
intakes and euthanasias as programs aimed at preventing
surplus births.

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