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Shelter animal statistics

As the national voice for humane societies and SPCAs in Canada, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies works with its member societies to promote respect and humane treatment toward all animals.

In order to improve the welfare of animals, the CFHS must be aware of the number and kinds of animals in shelters and what happens to the animals after they are admitted. The CFHS gathers annual data on the number of animals entering shelters and the numbers adopted, returned to their owners or euthanized. This information provides a national snapshot of the role shelters play in their communities. It is also helpful to see any trends occurring over time, for example, we have seen euthanasia numbers drop over the past 10 years.

These results are from a semi-annual survey of Canadian humane societies and SPCAs in Canada. The number of respondents varied by year; it was often roughly 60% of those surveyed. While the CFHS tried to contact all humane societies and SPCAs that we know of in Canada (over 200), we cannot guarantee that some weren’t missed in these surveys.

It should also be noted that these survey did not include municipally-run animal shelters (or “pounds”), which collectively take in at least as many stray animals in Canada as do the humane society & SPCA shelters captured in this survey. Therefore, the number of abandoned, abused, and stray pets entering animal shelters is much higher than what is shown in our survey results.