1000018966 - 75% Fewer Cats Are Dying in Shelters, Here's How Austin Is Part of Livesaving
Mar 25, 2026

New national data from Best Friends Animal Society confirms something the animal welfare community has been working toward for a long time: the number of cats killed in shelters has dropped by nearly 75% over the past decade.

Best Friends attributes this progress to three key drivers: the expansion of community cat programs, a 20% rise in cat adoptions, and the growth of kitten foster programs across the country.

Austin Pets Alive! has been in the middle of all three, helping improve lifesaving in Texas and across the country. Here’s how:

Keeping Cats Out of Shelters through Supported Self-Rehoming

One of the most powerful ways to reduce shelter killing is to prevent the shelter surrender from happening at all. That’s the work of APA!’s PASS program (Positive Alternatives to Shelter Surrender). In 2025, PASS supported more than 6,000 requests for assistance in Central Texas, connecting pet owners with resources, rehoming support, and community help before a crisis becomes a surrender. PASS also moderates a Facebook community that has grown to over 90,000 members, creating a support system for pet owners across the region.

Teaching Shelters A Better Way to Help Animals

APA! doesn’t just operate programs in Austin; the organization creates partnerships to share them with other shelters around the country. Through the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) project, the nonprofit helps mentor and train shelters across the country in the practices that move the needle on lifesaving. In 2025 alone, HASS mentored three pilot shelters that increased foot traffic to adoption conversion rates, launched a self-paced digital course that reached more than 180 shelters nationwide, and grew its network of partner shelters by 85%.

The progress reflected in Best Friends’ national data isn’t the work of any one organization. It’s the result of a field-wide shift and collaboration in how shelters approach cats.

Giving the Most Fragile Kittens a Fighting Chance

Kittens make up nearly half of all cats entering shelters and are the most fragile while in care. APA!’s Neonatal Kitten Nursery, an unheard of method of handling neonates when it launched in 2009, was built to fill this gap. In 2025, the organization’s neonatal team cared for 2,638 kittens, up from 2,301 the year before, while improving the save rate from 89.44% to 92%. Before this critical program was created, thousands of neonatal kittens were euthanized due to their medical and round-the-clock care requirements.

Saying Yes to Cats Other Shelters Can’t

The national save rate improvement is great news and APA! also focuses on the cats who fall outside that progress, the ones with diagnoses or conditions that would mean a death sentence elsewhere.

Austin Pets Alive!’s specialty cat programs exist to help:

  • FeLV+ Cats: APA! has operated the first FeLV+ cat adoption program in the nation since 2011. In 2025, we took in 228 cats with feline leukemia virus and placed 339 in homes. Adoption fees are waived, adopters are educated, and the nonprofit’s Shelter Pet Hospital provides lifetime treatment for FeLV-related illness.

  • Ringworm: In most shelters, ringworm is a death sentence. At APA!, it’s treatable. In 2025, we saved 638 cats through its ringworm program, treating them in their dedicated facility and adopting them directly into homes, where they heal surrounded by family.

  • Incontinent Cats: Ten incontinent cats found homes in 2025 through our specialty care program, each one a life that a standard shelter model would not have been able to save.

  • Barn Cats: For feral and semi-feral cats who aren’t suited to traditional home adoption and can’t be re-released where they came from, APA!’s Barn Cat Program creates a dignified live outcome. In 2025, 157 barn cats were adopted into working homes, each one diverted from euthanasia.

More Cats Adopted, Faster

Across all programs, APA!’s cat outcomes improved significantly in 2025: 5,124 total cat adoptions (974 more than 2024), more than 5,600 foster placements, and a 28% decrease in average length of stay. Meaning that cats are moving through the rescue’s system into homes faster than ever before.

The Work Continues

Nearly 75% fewer cats killed nationally is real, meaningful progress. But roughly 200,000 cats are still being killed in shelters each year.

APA! will keep saying yes to the cats and dogs that shelters can’t care for, and other rescues can’t take. Keep training shelters to improve their programs and outcomes. Keep connecting families to resources before they reach a breaking point of surrendering their loved animal.

Visit our adopt, foster, volunteer, or donate pages to find ways you can help!

Source: Austin Pets Alive