Horry County Animal Care Center saved nearly 1,000 more pets in 2021, data shows

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – The Horry County Animal Care Center has made major improvements in the number of animals it has saved, according to new data.

Best Friends Animal Society, an animal welfare organization, gives a national overview of the number of dogs and cats that enter and leave shelters each year.

The organization measures shelter lifesaving with a metric called “save rate.” A 90% save rate is a benchmark to be considered a “no-kill” shelter. It factors in that about 10% of animals in shelters have medical or behavioral circumstances that warrant humane euthanasia, rather than killing for lack of space.

Data from Best Friends found that HCACC took in 3,051 animals in 2021. Of those pets, 2,550 were saved, which is an 83.6% save rate.

MORE INFORMATION | Horry County Animal Care Center

Best Friends said this showed great progress compared to 2020 when HCACC took in 4,533 pets and saved 2,898, for a save rate of 63.9%.

It’s a nearly 20% increase in the save rate which places HCACC in the top 100 most improved shelters in the country, according to Best Friends.

The organization said HCACC made big strides in improving its save rate through a community cat and trap-neuter-vaccinate return program.

People can also help save lives by choosing to adopt from a shelter or rescue group, spay or neuter their pets, foster, volunteer, donate, and support and advocate for community cats through trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) and shelter-run TNVR programming.