I came across these results of a study Petsmart’s Charity commissioned on animal rescue, adoption, spaying and neutering, and other interesting topics: http://www.petsmartcharities.org/resources/Ipsos-Webinar-11-27-12.pdf

They have done this study a couple of times and so interestingly you can see the changes in data that takes place over time. The data shows some progress on the rescue front but is a reminder of how far we need to go to shine a light on the problem of euthanasia in this country. Rescue groups, advocates, and others are making great progress but the end of the needless deaths of millions of animals a year cannot come soon enough. Here are some of the interesting results of the survey:

-88% of the population underestimates the amount of euthanasia

-33% of cats were taken in as strays vs. 2% from breeders; for dogs, 8% were taken in as strays and 17% from breeders

-surprisingly, 27% of dogs and 21% of cats were taken in from family members or friends vs 19% and 18% respectively from shelters

-12% of people did not adopt their dog or cat because the adoption process is too difficult

-perceptions of getting animals from breeders or pet stores have declined over the past couple of years

-78% of people who adopted a dog or cat did so because they wanted to rescue the animal

-there is a pretty large increase in the number of animals that were already spayed or neutered already when they were adopted