You can calculate the numbers in your area! See below the Pet Stray Population report that you can download which has all the statistics presented by county population for total numbers of dogs, cats and community cats in your area.. You should check these totals in your county. There is the requirement for all dogs to have a valid dog license for every dog in a county. It would be prudent for county commission to check that to see what kind of revenue they may be losing for animal control. Check out the WV Unaltered Pets Strays file for estimating how many animals your group should be targeting to spay neuter. .
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It is interesting that US Households having pets has gone down a few percentages from 2020 yet WV has always been in the top 1/4 for pet ownership. Sourced from AVMA 2022 ;and APPA 2023-24
2024 West Virginia Pet Statistics
66% WV Households have pets (Percentage in WV has been estimated to be higher)
475,641 WV Household have pets
473,479 dogs in WV Households with 31% not altered
333,526 cats in WV Households with 20% not altered
118,004 total number of community cats with 80% not altered
13% of total animals in WV Shelters are euthanized (24 counties Reporting)*
$218 is average per animal sheltering cost in WV shelters (FOHO 2017 research – likely increased)
2024 National Pet Statistics.
66% U.S. Households have pets.
86.9 million U.S. Households have pets
108 million dogs with 31% not altered
79 million cats with 20% not altered
65.1 million households own a dog
46.5 million households own a cat
30-40 million estimated community cats with 80% not altered
15% of total animals in shelters nationwide are euthanized
* In 2022, 13% of animals admitted into West Virginia Shelters were euthanized according to the West Virginia Board of Veterinary Medicine (only 27 counties reported). Total euthanized = 13% Cats euthanized = 18%. Dogs euthanized = 6%. The number is going down due to more spay neuter services but also due to the high number of fosters and rescues that transport shelter animals out of our state. Please note that all public shelters do not accept cats. West Virginia Animal Euthanasia and Control Statistics are difficult to pinpoint since no state reporting structure exists for compiling these statistics. In 2013, the WV Veterinary Board began collecting intake data at the request of FOHO WV along with their yearly Euthanasia data for their certified euthanasia technicians. While this has helped, less than half our counties report. This report is required to WV Vet Board by January 15 for the previous year if there is a certified euthanasia technician in that county. They also may be using a veterinarian service for euthanasia and that data is not collected.
Sources Consulted: These are good ones to check out for data and trends.
https://bestfriends.org/no-kill-2025/animal-welfare-statistics
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-pet-statistics
https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/US-pet-ownership-calculator.aspx
https://petkeen.com/pet-ownership-statistics/#Who_Owns_Pets_In_The_US
https://humanepro.org/page/pets-by-the-numbers
https://www.hillcountrycats.org/wp-content/uploads/CommunityTNR.pdf
(page 23)
Peter Marsh ‘Getting to Zero’\
https://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/wv
https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/west-virginia/counties
https://humanepro.org/sites/default/files/documents/managing-community-cats.pdf