Q1 Analysis, 2023

(5/4/23)

Shelter Animals Count (SAC) released the Q1 report from 2023, with data from the Intake and Outcome Database. This report represents 100 more organizations than the Q1 2022 report. 

Over the past three years, as the owner surrender rate has decreased for dogs, the stray rate has increased significantly. Compared to Q1 last year, there was a 2% decrease in dogs who were surrendered by their owners and a 14% increase in dogs who arrived as strays. Cats, on the other hand, saw a 4% decrease in stray intakes. 

Animals moving between organizations through transfers continues to decrease — from a rate of 15% in Q1 2021 to 12% in Q1 2023. When we look at the Population Balance Calculation (PBC) by organization type, however, there is a hopeful trend showing that the bottleneck for foster-based rescues is easing, which could indicate a future increase in transfers.