Augusta shelter: 70 percent of animals euthanized

Monday, April 28, 2014

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Records show Augusta's city-run animal shelter euthanized about 70 percent of the dogs, cats and other species that came through its doors last year.

The Augusta Chronicle reports Augusta Animal Services records show 6,578 of the 9,340 animals that came to the facility last year were given lethal injections. The numbers were about the same in 2012. Shelter director Sharon Broady blames a high percentage of animals not being spayed or neutered, owners abandoning their pets and low adoption rates.

Georgia doesn't have a central database for comparing shelter euthanasia rates. The U.S. Humane Society says euthanasia numbers nationwide have fallen sharply over four decades from about 15 million dogs and cats in 1970 to 3.4 million last year.