27,000

27,000. According to a recent internet search, 27,000 dogs were euthanized in the state of Georgia in 2024. Twenty-seven thousand.

Why?

To understand the why it is important to understand the nature of the business. Shelters exist to house animals that are currently ownerless or homeless. They might have strayed from their home or been abandoned in some random place. Their owner might have given them up to the shelter, relinquished them, for any one of various personal reasons. The animal might have come in from another area or agency, moved to a new location to assist a shelter overwhelmed by animal intake from a natural disaster, a cruelty case, or a hoarding situation. Some animals are born in the shelter, to pregnant mamas who were picked up. All of these situations will add numbers to a shelter's population.

Shelters exist for the sole purpose of sheltering animals currently without somewhere else to live. There are several methods by which an animal can leave the shelter. A stray might be reunited with their owner. An owner who previously relinquished their pet might have an improvement in their circumstances, making them able to reclaim their pet. Sometimes animals are transferred to other shelters.

Some animals are brought to the shelter by their owners, and the animal is sick or injured, and they are brought in to be humanely euthanized. This can happen if the animal is very sick, severely injured, or the owner sadly cannot afford regular veterinary care. Some animals die at the shelter from natural causes. All the animals that remain, after all of these scenarios, are candidates for euthanasia.

So how did we get here? The numbers keep climbing, every year. According to some sources, the state of Georgia euthanizes more animals in shelters than any other state. We are at least among the top five in the nation. How did we get here?

Simple math tells us that there are more dogs than homes for the dogs already available. So dogs end up in shelters and many end up euthanized to make space for new incoming dogs. Perfectly healthy animals die every day to make room for more animals that will likely meet the same fate.

There is hope, if we as a state are willing to do some work. There are thing that can be done to relieve the overcrowding in the shelters and the risk of unnecessary euthanasia. And I say 'we' because it will take effort from all the people of the state of Georgia to make this happen, to turn the tide on this never ending cycle of dogs being born just to die.

I want to reach as many people as possible in the state of Georgia, so if yu are reading this please share it with your friends and family. Only by working together can we conquer this serious issue.

In this blog I want t raise awareness of the animal overpopulation crisis in Georgia. I want to make people aware of the problems with the current way things are handled. I want to raise awareness of current and future pending legislation so you can write to your representatives and make them aware of what we need. I would love to highlight the efforts of those shelters and rescues who are fighting the good fight every day to make the lives of animals better.

This problem will not go away without effort, and it won't be solved overnight. But we can fix this. Stay turned to this blog for upcoming news and events. Until next time!

Pawsitively awesome!

Ruth