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Tip of the Week: 2025 State of Shelter Adoption Report
July 30, 2025, The Association
This just-released study provides actionable insights to better address adopters’ needs and your community’s concerns
2024 marks the fifth consecutive year shelters across the nation are experiencing more intakes than outcomes. You know more than anyone the need for further data-driven insights to understand your community’s needs, and their perceptions about your services.
Now in its third year, Hill’s State of Shelter Pet Adoption Report offers findings from a survey of 2,500 socio-economically diverse current and prospective pet owners. Top takeaways include:
- Acquiring pets from family or friends is becoming increasingly popular among Americans.
- 75% of Gen Z & Millennial Americans are significantly more likely to adopt from a shelter in the future compared to 55% of Gen X & Baby Boomers
- Breed preference has remained the leading barrier to shelter adoption
- The biggest barrier to pet ownership is financial, with almost half of respondents citing cost of pet ownership as the number-one challenge
These are just a few of the high-level takeaways in this 92-page report. For additional stats that can help your org navigate through the crises that many shelters are facing, and to help you better understand and meet adopters’ needs, download the full report.
P.S. Look for the quotes from The Association’s President & CEO, Jim Tedford, and other members of The Association.
About The Association
The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement is a cohort of leaders on a mission to champion, advance, and unify the animal welfare profession.
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It is important to recognize that surveys that divide the US population into various age groups (e.g. Gen Z, Millennials and Baby Boomers) almost never (!) recognize the significant differences in the rate of pet ownership as households age. The highest rate of pet ownership (around 75%) occurs in families with children aged 5-17 while the lowest rates occur among single seniors older than 75. Baby boomers are now entering their senior years (the oldest baby boomers are 78) and probably only around 30% (or less) of baby boomer households would have pets. Single person households have around half the pet ownership rates of family households.