New data reveals that 82 of Virginia‘s 137 animal shelters achieved no-kill status in 2024, and nearly 84 percent of cats and dogs in shelters were saved.
Best Friends Animal Society, a leading national animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters, released the new data, which shows Virginia saw improvements in pet lifesaving in 2024.
“Best Friends has built incredible lifesaving momentum toward no-kill through decades of work and strong partnerships with shelters across the state. Virginia is for pet lovers, and that passion is reflected in the growing number of communities coming together to save lives and support their local shelters. Now is the time for Virginians to keep that progress going — by choosing to adopt from their local shelter, stepping up to foster a pet in need, or advocating for policy changes like community cat programs that support lifesaving efforts and reduce unnecessary shelter deaths,” said Aurora Velazquez, Eastern Region Director for Best Friends Animal Society.
For Virginia to become no-kill, 9,100 more pets need to be adopted. The Commonwealths‘ progress and its commitment to achieving no-kill was highlighted by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Proclamation in November 2024 declaring Virginia Loves Shelter Animals Month. In early 2025, the Virginia General Assembly echoed the governor’s commitment to no-kill in 2025 by passing HJ711 calling on all Virginians to adopt and support their local shelter.
Richmond Animal League has been central to lifesaving progress in the state. The organization has provided mentorship and support to 13 shelters in Virginia through collaborative events and transfer opportunities, underscoring their commitment to help increase dog and cat lifesaving throughout the state.
Best Friends‘ latest annual data report shows Americans saved nearly 4 million dogs and cats from being killed in U.S. shelters last year. Best Friends attributes the positive pet lifesaving trend to the public’s increased support and momentum for no-kill shelter programs across the country. In the last eight years, shelters have seen a nearly 60 percent reduction in the number of healthy and treatable pets unnecessarily euthanized because of lack of space.
“Millions of U.S. households will add a pet to their family this year. If just 1 in 17 of those families chose to adopt from a shelter instead of purchasing from a pet store or breeder, we could reach no-kill nationwide. This is solvable – we can end the unnecessary killing of our nation’s pets – their lives are literally in all of our hands,” Best Friends Animal Society CEO Julie Castle said.
Choosing to adopt a pet from a local shelter or rescue group instead of purchasing from a breeder or pet store is one of the most impactful ways Virginians can make a lifesaving difference. Communities across the state can help to end shelter killing by spaying or neutering their pets to prevent unplanned litters, fostering pets to save more lives, donating to support under resourced shelters or advocating for proven lifesaving programming for pets.
No-kill is within reach for hundreds of shelters across the country. Of the shelters that have not yet achieved the benchmark, nearly half are less than 100 pets away from the milestone.
To help further the nationwide pet lifesaving momentum, other governors and lawmakers across the country are aligning with no-kill trends as well with 10 states having issued no-kill proclamations or resolutions since 2024, including Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Montana, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Utah and Washington.
In 2024, 4.8 million dogs and cats entered America’s shelters, a decrease of 12 percent compared to 2016. To put that in perspective, in 2016, more than 1 million dogs and cats were killed in shelters. Last year, that number dropped to 425,000— a 59 percent decrease, with nearly two out of three shelters achieving no-kill.
The number of cats killed in shelters has decreased by 10.5 percent since 2023, meaning the number of cats killed in shelters is now at the lowest point in history.
No-kill is defined by a 90 percent save rate for animals entering a shelter and is a meaningful and common-sense benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress. Typically, the number of pets who are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not more than 10 percent of all dogs and cats entering shelters.
Share
Rebecca Barnabi
