Fort Myers, Florida, (February 25, 2005) Lee County Animal Services once again set a record for animal adoptions in 2004 - 3054 animals - a 19% increase over the 2003 record of 2564, according to annual statistics released today by the department. "What makes these numbers even more encouraging is that we were able to place 72 percent of the adoptable dogs and cats that entered our shelter. However, there is always room for improvement with better pet ownership commitment in the community," says Animal Services Director, Scott Trebatoski.

As the human population of the county grew by 5%, the intake of animals rose by 10%. Battling the steady growth of animals entering the shelter, Animal Services succeeded in reducing the euthanasia rate as a percentage of intake by nearly 7%.

Not all statistics were seen as improvements. "The most alarming statistic is the huge increase in owner surrenders of their personal pets. We saw an increase of over 27% or nearly 5000 animals last year. This is a sad reflection of the trend to treat companion animals as disposable property. Some people just do not take the life-long commitment seriously," says Trebatoski. Traditionally, the public shelter has dealt with stray animals and the Humane Society and other private agencies handled owner surrendered animals; however, the numbers of surrendered animals far exceeds all capacity of private shelters forcing Animal Services to take the surplus.

There were 901 puppies and kittens that had to be euthanized because they were too young to survive, were nursing-age without a mother, or too sick to be saved. That represents 74% of the potentially adoptable dogs and cats that could not be placed last year. "This segment of the euthanasia we are forced to perform for the community is one that could be eliminated through aggressive promotion and availability of affordable pet sterilization" proclaims Director Trebatoski. "Many of these animals come from areas of the community that do not seek regular veterinary care. The result is the escalation of animal births that lead to additional stray animals and other animal control problems."

Analyzing the last five years of records (2000-2004) many gains can be seen. With a growth in population of 18.3%; Animal Services saw an increase in intake of 37.8%. Adoptions were up 97%, returns to owners were up 38.2%, total animal placement was up 74.9% and euthanasia as a percentage of intake fell 8%. However, owner surrendered animals increased by 127.1%.