Furry Friends has adopted the no-kill equation — the only proven way of creating a sustainable no-kill community. A part of any no-kill community is transparency. Our statistics are available on this page, and we are constantly working towards transparency community-wide so that the amount of need in our community can adequately be assessed.
Transparency also allows the community to evaluate programs and invest in the most effective and efficient solutions that provide all animals with a loving, responsible home.
In 2013, Furry Friends committed to accepting all animals from West Des Moines, Clive, and Urbandale animal control that have not been reclaimed within the stray hold time to ensure those animals are also protected by the no-kill commitment.
A no-kill community is one that doesn’t kill healthy or treatable pets. There are many different interpretations of what “healthy and treatable” means, but the communities leading the way have found that at least 90 percent of pets entering the shelter fit into one of these two categories. It is considered that saving at least 90% of the animals in need in your community is the entry benchmark for no-kill communities.
Below you can see our intake/outcome statistics for the most recent full year. (More detailed statistics from previous years are available here.)
2019 Intakes 1/1/2019 – 12/31/2019
| Dogs | Cats | Small Animals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner surrender | 106 | 234 | 105 | 445 |
| Return** | 96 | 119 | 11 | 226 |
| Stray | 365 | 742 | 35 | 1142 |
| Transfer in | 62 | 50 | 114 | 226 |
| Total | 629 | 1145 | 265 | 2039 |
2019 OUTCOMES 1/1/2019 – 12/31/2019
| Dogs | Cats | Small Animals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adoption | 350 | 1021 | 145 | 1516 |
| Euthanized/Died | 4 | 66 | 7 | 77 |
| Return to Owner/Guardian | 288 | 43 | 3 | 334 |
| Transfer out | 5 | 9 | 1 | 15 |
| Total | 647 | 1139 | 156 | 1942 |
| Live Release Rate | 100% | 96.5% | 94.9% | 97.4% |
2018 intakes (1/1/18 to 12/31/18)
| Dogs | Cats | Small Animals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner Surrender | 100 | 269 | 76 | 445 |
| Return** | 81 | 103 | 7 | 191 |
| Stray | 358 | 553 | 22 | 933 |
| Transfer in | 169 | 157 | 8 | 334 |
| Total | 708 | 1082 | 113 | 1903 |
2018 OUTCOMES (1/1/18 TO 12/31/18)
| Dogs | Cats | Small Animals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adoption | 392 | 941 | 100 | 1433 |
| Euthanized/Died | 1 | 60 | 7 | 68 |
| Return to Owner/Guardian | 298 | 70 | 1 | 369 |
| Transfer out | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| Total | 694 | 1076 | 109 | 1879 |
| Live Release Rate | 99.5% | 94.5% | 91.3% | 96.5% |
2017 intakes
| Dogs | Cats | Small Animals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner/Guardian Surrender | 71 | 326 | 115 | 512 |
| Return** | 47 | 111 | 11 | 169 |
| Stray | 298 | 472 | 24 | 794 |
| Transfer In | 56 | 107 | 37 | 200 |
| Total | 472 | 1016 | 187 | 1675 |
**Returns are animals adopted from Furry Friends at any point
2017 outcomes
| Dogs | Cats | Small Animals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adoption | 211 | 846 | 178 | 1235 |
| Euthanized/Died | 3 | 64 | 5 | 72 |
| Return to Owner/Guardian | 249 | 65 | 6 | 320 |
| Transfer Out | 8 | 18 | 0 | 26 |
| Total | 471 | 993 | 189 | 1653 |
| Live Release Rate | 99.4% | 93.6% | 97.4% | 95.6% |
**Return to owner includes animals reunited through our contract with WestPet Animal Control, beginning March 1