Most of Utah’s animal shelters are ‘no-kill,’ but there are some big exceptions

Six-year-old Couscous knows how to sit and shake hands, and gives excited snorts as she gets treats and attention in a meet-and-greet room at Best Friends Animal Society’s pet adoption center in Salt Lake City.

And like hundreds of other dogs — and cats — in Utah, she’s looking for a home.

The Beehive State has higher-than-average adoption rates compared to other states, according to data from Kanab-based Best Friends Animal Society, and more than 75% of Utah’s animal shelters are no-kill.

Utah is on the cusp of achieving no-kill status statewide, but about 1,600 cats and 480 dogs who could have been adopted were still put down in 2023, based on data Best Friends gathered from 58 of the state’s 59 shelters.

“We know Utah can become the first no-kill state in the West, and we are committed to helping the Beehive State reach this very attainable goal,” said Holly Sizemore, the chief mission officer for Best Friends Animal Society.

The state is behind efforts to reach that goal, and Gov. Spencer Cox declared 2024 ”No-Kill Shelter Year” in February.

Community support is key to achieving no-kill status, said Jami Johanson of Salt Lake County Animal Services, a shelter that serves people and pets in several cities, towns and metro townships in the Salt Lake City area. The county shelter has been no-kill for more than a decade.

Fourteen kill shelters in nine counties

“No-kill” is defined as saving every dog or cat in a shelter who can be saved by not euthanizing healthy, adoptable animals.

Best Friends defines no-kill shelters as those that save every dog or cat that staffers can. The group set a benchmark of saving 90% of a shelter’s animals, to account for the 10% or fewer that suffer from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that may compromise their quality of life.

Utah now has 14 shelters with kill policies in nine of the state’s 29 counties: Beaver, Cache, Millard, Salt Lake, San Juan, Summit, Tooele, Uintah and Utah, according to the database Best Friends maintains for more than 1,000 shelters across the country. There’s no data for one shelter in Cache County.

Fifty-eight shelters across the state saved 47,777 animals of the 54,518 that entered as strays, surrenders or otherwise found themselves without a home.

That’s a save rate of 87.6%, higher than the national rate and the rate in 29 states, including neighboring Nevada and Arizona.

Just four states are no-kill, and they’re all small states in the Northeast that had an intake of less than 8,000 in 2023.

Utah is close — 2,079 more adoptions last year would have given the state no-kill status.

Utah County had the lowest save rate in 2023

Save rates across the state range from 72% in Utah County to 99.4% in Juab County.

The biggest challenge for the state is in Utah County, where shelters euthanized 1,377 cats and dogs in 2023.

The two shelters there — North Utah Valley Animal Services and South Utah Valley Animal Services — particularly struggle with adopting out cats, based on the data from Best Friends. They had high save rates for dogs, but were able to save just 50.2% and 62.7% of cats, respectively.

Best Friends generally has more cats, said Jackie McKay, the group’s marketing manager. There were dozens of cats — from newborn kittens to a “chonky” cat named Abigail — at the organization’s Salt Lake City adoption center, and 73 of the 84 adoptable animals listed Friday on the site were cats.

Spaying and neutering is important for cats, McKay said, because otherwise “it’s like rabbits.”

Those shelters need to adopt “humane alternatives to trap and kill,” such as community cat programs, where shelters trap, neuter, vaccinate and release cats to freely roam outdoors, Best Friends said in a news release.

South Utah Valley Animal Services noted in a statement included with the database that investments from Best Friends and Petco Foundation have helped the shelter vaccinate and spay or neuter adoptable animals, but the special district needs help from the community to improve the lives of animals in its care.

North Utah Valley Animal Services didn’t give a statement to Best Friends for the database, and did not respond to an emailed request from The Tribune for comment.

Several other counties, including such populous ones as Davis and Washington counties and more rural ones like Kane and Juab counties, have all no-kill shelters, even when there are multiple shelters, like in Washington County.

And large shelters, including Salt Lake County Animal Services, have achieved and maintained no-kill status for years.

Support from Best Friends and its programs, including low-cost spay and neuter services and fostering, was key in helping the shelter become no-kill, Johanson said.

“I know they also would support other cities and towns that aren’t no-kill getting there, too,” she said.

Community members “standing up to be no-kill” is a huge support, Johanson said, as is supporting cats being “community cats.”

Promoting adoptions — including through big events like Petapalooza — is also a key part of remaining no-kill, Johanson said.

“Adopting really does save a life,” she said. “That’s the most important thing.”

Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.