Multnomah County Animal Services Shelter Does What it's Supposed to Do

The Portland metro area includes six primary shelters, including Multnomah County Animal Services, Clackamas County Dog Services, Southwest Washington Humane Society, Washington County Animal Services, Oregon Humane Society, and the Cat Adoption Team. These ASAP groups take in 90% of all area animal, totaling nearly 40,000 animals in 2009. Approximately 12,500 of these animals were euthanized.

Taking into account the area's human population, the euthanization rate was 6.1 animals per thousand people. In 2006, this figure was 8.9 per thousand people. In comparison to other cities, Portland statistics are about equal to Denver and slightly better than Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Spokane. In other cities like Fresno, California and Louisville, Kentucky, the rate is more than 40 animals per thousand people. The current national average is 13.8 euthanizations per thousand people.

Specific intake guidelines at several of these Portland animal shelters are also examined in this article.