The number of cats killed in U.S. shelters has dropped by nearly 75% over the past decade, according to new national data from Best Friends Animal Society.

The group says 188,000 cats were killed in shelters in 2024, down from far higher levels ten years ago, even as kitten season continues to test shelter capacity across the country. Best Friends says the shift came from a mix of community cat programs, stronger foster networks, and rising adoptions.

Community cat programs changed the math

A major driver has been the spread of humane programs that sterilize, vaccinate, and return healthy outdoor cats to where they live. On its national data page, Best Friends Animal Society says shelters have seen a 70% increase in cats safely returned to their outdoor homes over the last decade. That trend lines up with findings highlighted by HumanePro, which points to Albuquerque data showing feline euthanasia fell 84.1% and intake dropped 37.6% after return-to-field and targeted trap-neuter-return were combined.

The underlying study, published in the journal Animals, found that Albuquerque’s live release rate rose from 60.6% to 89.5 percent during the program period. Kitten euthanasia fell even faster there, dropping 89.8%. The study’s authors concluded that targeted TNR paired with return-to-field helped drive both lower intake and fewer deaths.

Foster homes save the youngest kittens

Kittens remain the most fragile cats shelters take in. Best Friends says they make up more than half of feline intake, which is why foster care has become so important. In a January report, Best Friends Animal Society said shelters and rescues with foster programs adopt out up to 30% more animals than those without them, and described kitten fostering as critical for the tiniest cats who need hands-on care to survive.

Research backs that up. A 2024 study in Applied Animal Behaviour Science says shelters rely on foster programs to improve kitten survival and behavior. Another study in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science found only 2.5% mortality among 203 kittens under 9 weeks old in shelter and foster care, with daily monitoring helping staff catch problems before they turned fatal.

Adoptions are rising but the gap is still large

Best Friends also reports that cat adoptions are up 20 percent over the last decade, with Gen Z making the biggest impact among adult generations now bringing cats home. That increase matters, but it has not solved the whole problem. Even with historic gains, roughly 188,000 cats were still killed in shelters in 2024.

As shelters head into peak kitten season, the message is clear: progress is real, but it will only hold if more people foster, adopt, and support the local systems keeping vulnerable cats alive.