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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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1996:

The Whidbey Animal Shelter, of
Coupeville, Washington, is staggering under a
77% increase in owner-surrendered cats and kittens
this year, and a 48% overall increase in feline
intakes, despite the apparent huge popularity of
the Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation
low-cost neutering, fostering, and supervised
neuter/release programs. In Louisiana, the
Jefferson Animal Shelter, of Jefferson Parish,
with a 6% rise in dog and cat intakes after a 10%
decline in 1994, and the New Orleans SPCA,
with an 11% rise after a 10% decline in 1995, are
experiencing similar, amid publicity about a 28%
increase in adoptions in Jefferson Parish and the
expansion of neutering programs at both shelters.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, August/September 1996:

Midwest
The legislative committee of Willard, Ohio, consisting
of councillors Bob Owens and Larry Jacobs, on July
3 introduced a policy allowing residents to borrow traps from
the police and dispose of stray cats at their own expense.
Objected councillor Tod Shininger, “If Joe Citizen doesn’t
have the will or the heart to destroy a cat, he’s going to move
it from one side of the city to the other, or take it out in the
country and dump it.” He noted that few residents would pay
a veterinarian to humanely euthanize a stray cat, and that
accidental killing of pet cats could touch off “a neighborhood
fight like you won’t believe.” Added mayor Stan Ware,
“We better get a cat warden.”
Second-year police officer Jeffrey “Mike” Crall,
of Beloit, Wisconsin––back on the job a month after being
stabbed while breaking up a bar fight––on June 26 performed
a daring rescue of a 14-year-old German shepherd/collie mix
caught in Rock River floodwaters. Crall “is our kind of guy,”
says Humane Society of Rock County executive director
Chris Konetski. The dehydrated, emaciated dog was reunited
with his owner, who recognized him on TV.

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