Getting 2 Zero
What has been achieved
The lowest euthanasia rate for the sixth largest city in Australia has been achieved through applying the G2Z model.
Gold Coast City has a population of 570 000 people and is growing by 13000 to 16000 each year. AWLQ is the only shelter which manages the pound animals for Gold Coast City Council and accepts all the unclaimed strays, and most of the cats and dog surrendered by their owners.
Through the strategies in the Getting to Zero model, 91% of the 5000 stray and surrendered cats and dogs in Gold Coast City were reclaimed or rehomed in 2018/19. This includes 93% of all incoming dogs and 89.5% of all incoming cats. Only 9% of both dogs and cats were euthanized due to irremediable suffering or demonstrating a significant threat to people or other cats and dogs in the community.
This save rate is much higher than most other pounds and shelters where euthanasia rates on average range between 20 - 30% of dogs and 30 – 60% of cats. Where lower rates exist, they do not usually include all the stray and surrendered cats and dogs for a whole city or shire.
Another benefit of the G2Z Model is that there has been a significant reduction in the numbers of incoming stray and surrendered kittens from Gold Coast City residents over the last nine years, while other communities have maintained similar numbers.
Zero euthanasia of all healthy and treatable dogs and cats in a whole large Australian city of over half a million people has been achieved.
Saving every healthy and treatable cat and dog in every city and shire in Australia is the next goal.
Transferring cats and dogs to shelters and rescue groups outside of one city or shire puts an extra rehoming burden on other communities. While AWLQ provides support for animals from other cities i.e. an additional 7000 animals from other communities in 2016-17, each community is being encouraged to adopt the G2Z Model. This involves taking responsibility for preventing stray and abandoned animals in their own communities, and rehoming the majority of their own abandoned animals, already desexed, microchipped, vaccinated and wormed into their own communities, to achieve a sustainable reduction in unwanted animals.