Victorian shelters euthanised 6535 cats and 1193 dogs in first six months of 2023

Dogs and cats are being killed at an alarming rate at animal shelters across Victoria, it can be revealed. See which pounds have the best and worst figures.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell said adoptable animals are being killed at an ‘unacceptably high level’. Picture: Rob Leeson

More than one in four cats and nearly one in every 10 dogs that ended up at a shelter or pound were killed within the first six months of 2023, new data has uncovered.

New figures that require animal shelters and council-run or contracted pounds to publicly report on welfare outcomes show that between January 1 and June 30 this year 6535 cats and 1193 dogs were euthanised across the state. Another 323 cats and 23 dogs died in other circumstances.

During that six-month period, shelters and pounds took in 25,913 cats, adding to 4838 already in care, and 14,178 dogs on top of the 1628 that had already been surrendered.

Shock figures show cats and dogs who end up in shelters are being put down at alarming rates. Picture by Wayne Taylor

The most common reason for euthanasia for dogs was due to behavioural concerns – accounting for 730 cases, while a further 220 canines were considered to be unfit for adoption, while 147 had diseases and 78 were suffering injuries.

More than 3600 cats that arrived at shelters were killed because they were deemed to be unidentified, wild, uncontrollable or diseased.

A further 1050 were put down for behavioural concerns while 1022 had diseases. Unweaned and orphaned kittens accounted for 306 deaths.

The RSPCA euthanised 130 dogs and 453 cats across its four shelters in the six month period, while the Lost Dogs’ Home put down 304 dogs and 1809 cats. Victorian Animal Aid euthanised 77 dogs and 287 cats.

Greyhound Racing Victoria’s own adoption program (GAP) euthanised 15 of its dogs.

The Mildura Rural City euthanised 60 per cent of cats handed in or captured during the six month period, while the Shepparton Animal Shelter had a cat euthanasia rate of 44 per cent.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell said adoptable animals are being killed at an “unacceptably high level”.

“It is especially alarming to see so many animals being killed for ‘behavioural issues’ when it is proven that these shouldn’t be a death sentence. Every animal will respond differently to a shelter setting and it is not indicative of their behaviour in a home environment, but they are not being afforded that opportunity,” she said.

The sheer volume of wild or unowned cats is making it hard to drive down euthanasia rates. Picture: Rebecca Michael

A Lost Dogs’ Home spokeswoman said as the largest shelter in Victoria it cared for more animals in one week than more than half of other organisations did in the full six month reporting period.

She said the shelter is committed to providing care to rehome every adoptable animal but also making the right euthanasia decisions to prevent unnecessary suffering and to protect the community.

“We achieve this with dogs. We are not achieving this with cats. The sheer numbers of unowned and wild cats coming into shelters, pounds and rescues every year … makes this impossible,” she said.

“Although we are slowly reducing euthanasia rates for cats year on year, we must have the support of the community and a far greater commitment from the state government to be able to achieve this at a much faster rate.”

An RSPCA Victoria spokeswoman said the shelter doesn’t euthanise for length of stay or space limitations.

“We’re committed to giving every animal under our care a chance at a happy and healthy life, however, we acknowledge in some cases this isn’t always possible,” she said.

A government spokeswoman said: “We’ve invested $5m in the Victorian Budget 2023/24 to support pet shelters, animal rescue and rehoming organisations to ensure they can continue to find suitable and loving homes for vulnerable cats and dogs.”