Over several decades, the Oakland County Animal Control and Pet Adoption Center is following a national trend toward euthanizing less animals brought in.

Bob Gatt, director of the shelter, says that the facility hovers at about a 90-percent no-kill rate, a number that is looked upon favorably in the industry.

Gatt says there are several factors in the trend in Oakland County toward lower euthanasia rates:

There is no time limit on how long an adoptable pet can stay in the shelter awaiting a new home, a change from decades ago. Weve had animals in here for over a year, he says.

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There is better education about having pets spayed and neutered, resulting in less unwanted litters of puppies and kittens, Gatt said.

More prospective pet owners are aware of the option of adopting a dog or cat from a shelter, he said.

According to some estimates, animal shelters nationwide killed as many as 20 million cats and dogs annually in the 1970s. That had fallen to 2.6 million by 2011 and to 1.5 million currently, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The Oakland County shelter handles 4,000 to 5,000 animals per year. Generally, only those deemed unadoptable are euthanized. Unadoptable animals are seriously ill or injured without a reasonable hope of improving, deemed vicious or have traits that make them unsuitable to be pets, Gatt said.

The shelter, at 1700 Brown Road in Auburn Hills, employs several full-time veterinary technicians and part-time veterinarians. Animals brought in sick or injured are treated on site whenever possible or sent out to a veterinarian for treatment if no staff member is available.

Animals rights groups consistently question the shelters euthanasia figures, but Gatt says those groups are an important factor in the decrease in animals being put down.

Over the years, the groups have brought awareness to more humane treatment of animals.

Even the ones who dont like me, I applaud them, Gatt said.

A new state-of-the-art shelter is to open this summer in the Oakland County municipal complex at Telegraph and Pontiac Lake roads.

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Oakland County animal shelter's decreasing euthanasia rates mirror ... - The Oakland Press