Pets

Why NC animal shelters have the second-highest euthanasia rate in the country

North Carolina animal shelters had the second-highest euthanasia rate in the country in 2021. How is the community helping change this?

Posted 2023-04-10T11:29:19+00:00 - Updated 2023-05-01T12:37:03+00:00

Animal shelters in NC have 2nd highest kill rate in nation

Delaney Eyermann

, WRAL multiplatform producer

North Carolina animal shelters had the second highest kill rate in the country in 2021.

In 2022:

Nearly 14,400 animals were euthanized in NC shelters.
More than 30,000 pets were surrendered by North Carolinians.
NC animal shelters took in nearly 120,500 animals.
There were more than 56,505 stray animals across the state.

The data was collected from Shelter Animals Count, a nonprofit and national database.

NC animal shelters have too many animals, not enough resources

Animal shelters can get a bad rap, but they're often working with too many animals and not enough resources.

"We’re not the pound; we’re not a horrible place," said Elaine Smith, director of Cumberland County Animal Services. "We’re a great place to come and find a new family member. We have wonderful animals for adoption."

Smith said a lot of people have a negative connotation of animal shelters.

"They think of a place that’s dark and scary and the animals are either in bad shape or aggressive," she said.

Smith said they do the best they can with the resources available.

"When you have 7,000 animals come through your door in a year, you have to be very careful in how you manage those animals," she said. "Because there’s not an unlimited supply of money; there’s not an unlimited supply of staff ... so we have to manage that overwhelming tide of animals to the best of our abilities."

County shelters like Cumberland County Animal Services are usually an animal's last hope.

"We’re kind of the last chance of help for an animal," Smith said. "We are its last and best hope to get help."

A community effort to end euthanasia in NC

Smith said there’s no way the Fayetteville shelter would be able to function without the help of volunteers.

"We're the only ones looking out for the interest of these animals," she said. "And that's a tough thing sometimes."

A lot of animal shelters rely heavily on volunteers to help them deal with the overwhelming number of animals they have to care for. Smith said it would be impossible to take all of the dogs for two 30-minute walks each day without the help of volunteers.

"This is a community effort," she said.

Smith said problems like animal abuse and neglect are also a community issue.

"We can’t solve it on our own," she said. "We need the community’s help."

"We need people to be responsible pet owners; we need people to spay or neuter their pets. We need people to make sure that their pets have what they need to remain healthy: food, water, shelter, veterinary care."

The SPCA of Wake County provides lower cost spay/neuter surgeries for pet owners who might not be able to afford it.

The SPCA's Saving Lives Spay/Neuter Clinic is a low-cost clinic in Raleigh. The organization also has a voucher program that connects you with veterinarians who offer spay/neuter surgeries at discounted prices.

If you are having financial issues, you can always call the shelter for help.

"If there’s a way we can help you to keep your pet, we want to do that," Smith said. "If there’s just no way, and you have to find another alternative, we’ll help you with that too."

Smith said animal shelters should be at the bottom of the list when it comes to surrendering a pet.

"We shouldn’t be the first choice for where an unwanted animal goes," she said. "We should be 'when all else fails this is where they can go to be safe.'"

She said the more animals that come into the shelter, the less animals they’ll be able to save.

It may seem overwhelming, but there are a lot of resources to help you rehome your pet quickly and safely.

If you don't know where to start, check out these websites:

You can also use Facebook to find a good home for your pet. Check out these groups:

The right way to get rid of a pet

A problem that impacts the community is dumping, which is when a pet owner abandons the animal and dumps them outside – usually in an unpopulated area.

"If you’re that desperate that you just can’t keep your animal any longer or whatever, call us," Smith said.

They may be at full capacity, but she said if you can just keep the animal for a day or two longer, they’ll make the space for that pet.

"It’s much better for that animal than turning it loose," she said.

Smith said a lot of people think pets – especially cats – can make it on their own. However, she said, domesticated cats aren't likely to fare well in the wild.

"If this is your pet and then you put it out [in the wild], you’re abandoning that animal to a pretty cruel fate," she said. "So we really ask that people do the responsible thing and contact us at least, and let us help you."

Smith said, unfortunately, there will always be people looking for a quick fix, and they can’t always provide a right-now solution. However, she said, they can help you find a timely solution.

Smith said if this is a situation in which you absolutely have no other alternative but to dump the animal, call them.

"We ask people to keep them a little longer if they have alternatives," she said. "But we ask for folks to help us."

Dispelling myths: All shelter dogs are aggressive

For people who think shelters put every dog up for adoption – even if they’re aggressive – that’s not true.

Smith said they’re first priority is determining whether that animal can be safely adopted and placed in a home.

"It’s absolutely required that we be completely transparent," she said. "And that’s what we are. Our ultimate goal is that everyone is safe."

If a dog has a history of not getting along with children or other animals, then they’ll find an adopter or rescue group that is willing to work with the animal given its prior history.

In the case that an animal is not safe to be around people, Smith said that's when the shelter has the responsibility of making tough decisions.

"Animals are like people," she said. "In 40 years of working around animals, there are some dogs that are just not safe around people. Some [animals] just have a mental disease or disorder that makes them unsafe."

In those cases, Smith said the best thing they can do for that animal is to give them a humane ending so that no one else will be hurt and that animal won’t be mistreated or abused because of its nature.

She said making those tough decisions is part of what they do.

Another common misconception is that all dogs that come from fighting or traumatic backgrounds will end up being aggressive. Smith said that’s not the case.

"In fact, in dog-fighting dogs, it’s extremely rare that they have any human aggression," she said. "Because they’ve been bred to be aggressive toward dogs, and they’ve been specifically bred not to be aggressive to people."

Whether it’s dogs used for breeding or dogs that no longer have the temperament to fight, she said not all of them are going to be aggressive just because of where they came from.

She said it’s on an individual basis, and every animal needs to be assessed to determine whether its aggressive.

There’s a new movement in the NC legislature to change the law so that not all animals from dog-fighting backgrounds are automatically deemed to be dangerous.