9,912 people needed to adopt pets in order to take Ohio no-kill
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 Ohio saw a slight decrease in lifesaving compared to the previous year.
More than 153,000 animals entered Ohio shelters in 2023. Of those, close to 10,000 were killed because they had no safe place to call home.
Overall, Ohio had a save rate of 85.9 percent, down from 86.2 percent in 2022. The nationally recognized benchmark for no-kill is 90 percent. Of its 143 shelters across the state, 88 of Ohio shelters are no-kill.
“Several organizations in Ohio have been leading examples in successful animal sheltering operations and programs. Cincinnati Animal CARE continues to be a model shelter for community-based programs and adoptions. We've seen several organizations leading the way with Trap-Neuter-Return for cats which is having a direct impact on shelter lifesaving,” said Tierney Sain, Central Region strategist at Best Friends Animal Society. “With Best Friends support, SICSA Pet Adoption and Wellness Center has partnered with Greene County Animal Control to save more lives with a focus on cat intake diversion and support for the community. The Humane Society of Greater Dayton has mentored other agencies and we've seen a direct impact of that support in shelter data.”
Nationally, 2.3 million dogs and cats were adopted in 2023. Best Friends data shows that pet adoption declined over the last five years, resulting in 415,000 adoptable pets being 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 kittens or an adult dog, volunteering and/or donating for proven lifesaving programming for pets.
About the Dataset: Since 2016 when Best Friends set a bold goal to take the country no-kill by 2025, we’ve 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. Back then we collected data with volunteers doing records searches and calling shelters. In recent years, rather than working harder, we’ve learned to work smarter, and this year is the smartest yet.
*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 rather than 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.
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