The number of cats and dogs that were euthanized per day in New Jersey in 2023 is finally a single digit: 9. This is down from 103 in 2009, when we began reporting these numbers on this website.
The total number of animals impounded in 2023 was 43,062. Of that number, 30,820 were redeemed or adopted and 3,309 were euthanized.
Click thumbnails to see:
- the 2023 New Jersey statistics by county, published by the New Jersey Department of Health, Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program
- a chart that breaks down the numbers to show averages and percentages to compare by year from 2009 through 2023
Below is a line graph showing total numbers of all types of animals impounded (blue), adopted or redeemed (green), euthanized (red), and unaccounted* (yellow), from 2009 through 2023.
(*”Unaccounted” can mean many things, depending on how shelters keep their records. It could be animals transferred to other shelters in NJ or in other states, transferred as barn cats, pulled by rescues, etc. The numbers that are most important are for those euthanized and adopted [red and green]. The number impounded is lower, and that is good. That is likely due to the effectiveness of spay/neuter education and programs.)
Here is a graph showing the numbers above as percentages of the total number impounded each year:
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AND THESE NUMBERS DON’T TELL THE WHOLE STORY!!
The truth is that the number of cats dying in New Jersey is much, much, much higher than what is reflected in the figures reported by those shelters that volunteer to complete the annual New Jersey Animal Intake and Disposition Survey.
Not all facilities volunteer to submit their numbers.
Not all facilities reporting keep accurate records.
Majority of cats are homeless and ignored. They are left on the streets and in the woods to fend for themselves. To add to this tragedy, they have not been spayed or neutered so they continually reproduce. Litter after litter of kittens destined to become homeless cats is the result. This cycle of cruelty is rarely ever fully addressed in New Jersey, the country, or anywhere in the world.
The bottom line is most homeless stray/feral cats aren’t taken to a facility where they are counted and many times killed. That doesn’t mean that they do not die. They just suffer and die in silence on the streets and in the woods. The truth is they do so in never-ending numbers because, as we pointed out earlier: “This cycle of cruelty is rarely ever fully addressed.”
Why? Because it takes a ton of money, time, effort, dedication, cooperation, and major coordination of a comprehensive plan.
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