DOBSON — The kill rate at Surry County’s animal shelter is high, but not that much higher than neighboring counties, according to the 2011 Public Animal Shelter Report issued by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

But in more urban areas of the state, a higher percentage of animals are being adopted, the report indicates.

Local shelter officials, who have come under fire recently by animal rights advocates for what they see as an unacceptably high kill rate, have said that if the public really wants to help the best course of action is to have their pets spayed or neutered.

“These animals we get are often strays that have been abandoned because people aren’t spaying or neutering their pets. They’re increasing the number of stray animals,” said shelter Director Gary Brown. “That’s the best way the public can help us, by decreasing the number of unwanted animals in the county.”

Brown said that while the majority of animals received at the shelter are “un-adoptable,” even if they were all in perfect condition, the county simply doesn’t have the necessary resources to take care of the volume of animals that come in annually.

“There’s not a building big enough, or money available, to take care of the sheer number of animals we receive,” he said. “The cheapest, and most effective, option is to spay and neuter.”

Surry County

Last year, the Surry County shelter took in 2,058 dogs, of which 105 were adopted by a new owner and 123 were returned to their owner. The remaining 1,789 were euthanized, a kill rate of 86.9 percent.

Contacted yesterday afternoon, Brown said that the high euthanasia rate in the county for dogs is the result of a high intake rate. “Surry County has a higher number of dogs coming in than some other areas,” he said. Noting that 75 percent of the dogs brought into the shelter last year didn’t pass the “adoptability” test.

“It all goes back to spaying and neutering,” Brown said. “In Surry County, this isn’t often done and it creates a lot of unwanted animals.”

During the same year, the shelter took in 2,044 cats, of which 81 were adopted to a new owner and eight were returned to their owner. The remaining 1,931 cats were put down by the shelter. The cat kill rate last year was about 94.5 percent.

The local shelter reported a cost of $111.90 per animal last year, a number that is higher than surrounding counties. During an earlier interview, Brown noted that the county is spending more on a per-animal basis, saying that the local shelter chooses what he calls the more humane, yet more expensive, lethal injection method of euthanasia. It involves two shots, one to put the animal to sleep and another to stop its heart.

Yadkin County

Yadkin County’s animal shelter took in 990 dogs last year, of which 123 were adopted by a new owner and 96 were returned to their owner. The remaining 771 were euthanized. This means about 78 percent of the dogs taken into the shelter were put down.

The shelter took in 1,095 cats, of which 30 were adopted and nine were returned to their original owner. The remaining 1,056 cats were put down by the county. This is a 96 percent euthanasia rate.

The shelter reports a per-animal cost of just $36.

Stokes County

The Stokes County shelter took in 1,398 dogs last year, of which 441 were adopted to a new owner and 103 were returned to their owner. The remaining 854, or 61 percent, were put down.

The shelter took in 1,368 cats last year, of which 113 were adopted by a new owner and nine were returned to their original owner. The remaining 1,255 were euthanized. This is a 91.7 percent kill rate.

The Stokes County shelter reported a per-animal cost of $63.

Alleghany County

Last year, the county’s shelter took in 364 dogs, of which 211 were adopted to a new owner and 14 were returned to their original owner. The remaining 113 were euthanized. This is a kill rate of 36.5 percent.

The shelter took in 136 cats last year, of which 108 were adopted by a new owner and the remaining 22 were put down. The cat euthanasia rate in Alleghany County was just 16 percent.

The shelter reported a per-animal cost of $25.

Wilkes County

Neighboring Wilkes County took in 3,071 dogs last year, of which 543 were adopted by new owners and 256 were returned to their owner. The remaining 2,294 were euthanized, according to the report. This results in a kill rate of just under 75 percent.

The shelter took in 3,295 cats, of which 138 were adopted and 31 were returned to their owner. The remaining 3,113 were put down by the shelter. The numbers result in a euthanasia rate of about 95 percent.

The shelter reports a per-animal cost of $92.52.

Other counties in the state had numbers similar to Surry County and its neighbors.

Forsyth County

The Forsyth County animal shelter, in Winston-Salem, reported taking in 4,764 dogs last year, of which 919 were adopted and 494 were returned to their original owners. The remaining 3,266 were put down. This is a kill rate of nearly 69 percent.

The shelter took in 3,654 cats last year, of which 318 were adopted and 69 were returned to their owners. The remaining 3,209, or about 88 percent, were put down.

The shelter reported a per-animal cost of $227.25.

Guilford County

The shelter took in 8,626 dogs, of which 2,948 were adopted by new owners and 1,545 were returned to their owner. The remaining 3,639 were euthanized. Just 42 percent of the dogs brought into the Guilford County shelter were euthanized last year.

The shelter took in 5,406 cats last year, of which 1,883 were adopted by new owners and 197 were returned to their original owners. The remaining 3,086 were euthanized. This means a feline kill rate of 57 percent at the shelter.

The shelter reported a per-animal cost of $469.

Wake County

Raleigh’s Wake County animal shelter took in 7,889 dogs last year, and boasted the adoption of 4,069. Another 1,314 were returned to their owners. The remaining 2,506 were euthanized. About a third, or 33 percent, of the dogs taken into the Wake County shelter were put down.

The shelter took in 7,713 cats last year, of which 2,282 were adopted and 164 were returned to their owners. The remaining 5,267 were put down. More than two-thirds, or 68 percent, of cats were put down by the shelter last year.

The shelter reported a per-animal cost of $102.89.

Mecklenburg County

Charlotte’s animal shelter took in 9,118 dogs last year, of which 1,494 were adopted and another 1,375 were returned to their owners. The remaining 4,772 were put down by the shelter. Slightly more than half, or about 52 percent, were put down last year in the county.

The shelter also took in 7,115 cats, of which 745 were adopted by new owners and 209 were returned to their owners. The remaining 5,667 were euthanized. The euthanasia rate for cats last year was 79.6 percent.

The shelter reported a per-animal cost of $272.64, according to the report.

The entire report can be downloaded at http://www.ncagr.gov through a quick search for “2011 public animal shelter report”.

Reach Keith Strange at kstrange@heartlandpublications.com or 719-1929.