Nearly half of Texas shelters achieved ‘No-Kill,’ including Fort Worth

Nearly half of Texas shelters achieved 'No-Kill,' including Fort Worth

Published on April 21, 2026

New data from Best Friends Animal Society, a leading national animal welfare organization working to make the country no-kill*, shows that while Texas remains the No. 1 state in the nation for euthanizing healthy and treatable pets, the state made meaningful progress in 2025. Shelters across Texas saw nearly an 11% decrease in dogs and cats euthanized compared to the previous year.

Notably, nearly every major Texas city's municipal shelter improved its lifesaving efforts in 2025 compared to 2024. Fort Worth Animal Care & Control saw nearly 1,500 fewer deaths of healthy and treatable pets.

El Paso Animal Services saw nearly 1,000 fewer, San Antonio Animal Care Services saw nearly 900 fewer, and Dallas Animal Services saw about 100 fewer deaths.

These improvements reflect a broader trend of shelters implementing proven strategies that save more pets' lives, including return-to-home programs, reducing barriers to adoption and placing greater emphasis on foster programs and adoption events.

Fort Worth animal control officers also play a vital role on the front lines. When officers encounter loose dogs, they first work to locate the owner before bringing the animal to the City's shelter. They use microchip scanners, go door-to-door asking neighbors if they recognize the pet and print flyers with the animal's photo, description and shelter location to help reunite pets with their families.

Additionally, findings from Best Friends' 2025 Texas data include:

• 194 of 391 shelters achieved no-kill, and 82 shelters are fewer than 100 pets away from reaching no-kill.
• 77% of pets entering Texas shelters were saved.
• An additional 32,000 cats and 46,600 dogs need to be adopted for Texas to reach no-kill statewide.

This progress reflects a larger national movement to save more lives. Best Friends' latest data shows the national save rate for pets in shelters reached 82.5% in 2025. The percentage of shelters achieving no-kill is now at an all-time high of 68%. Data also shows that if just one in every 150 additional households chose adoption, Texas could become a no-kill state.

Best Friends' annual national shelter report includes data from nearly 4,000 shelters across the country.

* No-kill is defined as a 90% save rate for animals entering a shelter and is considered a meaningful, common-sense benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress.

Photos: Fort Worth animal control officers play a vital role on the front lines. When they encounter loose dogs, they first work to locate the owner before taking the animal to the City's shelter.

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