Kanab, UT — Best Friends Animal Society, a leading national animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters in 2025, released new data showing Utah saw minimal year-over-year changes in lifesaving.  

In 2023, Utah saved 88% of the animals that entered its shelters, with 2,079 dogs and cats killed. Close to 1,600 cats lost their lives in shelters, while the number of dogs killed was just over a quarter of that at 480.

“Utah is on the cusp of achieving no-kill – 45 of the state’s 59 shelters having reached no-kill, and only 14 remain in order to make Utah no-kill as a state," said Holly Sizemore, Chief Mission Officer, Best Friends Animal Society. “Earlier this year, Utah Governor Spencer Cox declared 2024 “No-Kill Shelter Year" for the state, a monumental move that shows Utah’s commitment to saving every pet possible. We know Utah can become the first no-kill state in the West, and we are committed to helping the Beehive state reach this very attainable goal.”

The biggest challenge is in Utah County. Based on collected data two shelters located in and operated by Utah County special service districts are responsible for approximately two-thirds of all the animals still being killed in the entire state. Community cats make their homes outdoors in communities that feed and care for them. It is imperative that Utah County and its municipal governments adopt humane alternatives to trap and kill to deliver what residents want: no kill communities that offer safe shelters to animals in need.

“We are very hopeful about what we are seeing so far this year. Five of the 14 shelters that missed the no-kill benchmark last year are trending no-kill so far in 2024,” said Sizemore. “Unfortunately, the Utah County shelters continue to regress in their lifesaving.”

Nationally, 2.3 million dogs and cats were adopted in 2023. Best Friends data shows that pet adoption declined over the last five years, while shelter intakes increased as more people acquired pets from breeders and pet stores. The net result is that 415,000 pets were unnecessarily killed in shelters last year.

“Roughly 7 million people in America are planning to acquire a pet this year, and if just 6 percent more people chose to adopt versus purchase their pets, we would end the killing of dogs and cats in our nation’s shelters,” said Julie Castle, CEO, Best Friends Animal Society.

To inspire those looking to add a pet to their home by choosing the adoption option, Best Friends recently kicked off their largest national campaign built upon the foundation that pets belong in homes not shelters. The ‘Bring Love Home’ campaign will bring awareness to the dogs and cats still being killed in shelters throughout the country simply because they don’t have safe places to call home.

Individuals can help save lives by choosing to adopt from a shelter or rescue group instead of purchasing from a breeder or store. Even if someone isn’t looking to add a new pet to their family, everyone can help end shelter killing by spaying or neutering their pets, fostering, volunteering, and donating to lifesaving programs.

About the Dataset

Since 2016 when Best Friends set a bold goal to take the country no-kill by 2025, the organization has undertaken a massive effort to collect information from every shelter across the country. That meant starting at ground-level, because in 2016 no one even knew how many animal shelters there were in the country and data was collected through volunteers doing records searches and calling shelters.

As a leader and innovator in their field, Best Friends will now use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to power a predictive data model to help determine the best way to reduce the lifesaving gap for dogs and cats in U.S. shelters. This new methodology will help city and county leaders to better prioritize funding and programmatic needs and provide critical insights to the animal welfare community to save more pets in shelters nationwide.

Sources for the compiled shelter data include the Shelter Pet Data Alliance and other voluntary data submissions, public websites, government-provided data, and data platforms where organizations have opted-in to providing Best Friends with their data. While Best Friends attempts to validate data sources, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these sources.

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

About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters and make the country no-kill in 2025. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to 415,000 last year. Best Friends runs lifesaving programs across the country, as well as the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary. Working collaboratively with a network of more than 4,800 animal welfare and shelter partners, and community members nationwide, Best Friends is working to Save Them All®. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.

***Best Friends Animal Society has the most comprehensive, accurate data for sheltered dogs and cats in the United States, which is collected from over 7900 shelters and rescue groups.

Contact: Erinn O’Connor / erinno@bestfriends.org / (630) 334-7881

Photos / B-roll