Animal Shelters

Six and a half million domestic animals enter shelters in the United States each year — 3.3 million dogs and 3.2 million cats. Just over half of animals in shelters are adopted annually — around 3.2 million — and 1.5 million are euthanized. Of animals admitted into shelters, approximately 700,000 are eventually returned to their original homes, most of which are dogs.¹ Around a third of all dogs taken into homes each year are purchased from a breeder, and just under a quarter of dogs are purchased from shelters. The remainder are purchased from friends, another party or are discovered as strays.²