GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Kent County Animal Shelter euthanized two out of every five animals it took in last year.

The state's average euthanasia rate in 2017 for all open admission shelters was 14 percent, according to non-profit Michigan Pet Fund Alliance. Kent County's euthanasia rate was 39 percent that year.

Those figures don't include pets euthanized at their owner's request.

The county-run shelter put down strays and pets at a higher rate in 2017 than every other shelter in the state except those operated by much-smaller Berrien and Cass counties, according to state data.

Kent County Animal Shelter Supervisor Carly Luttmann says the majority of animals euthanized are aggressive dogs and feral cats.

Deborah Schutt, board chair of Michigan Pet Fund Alliance, said the county likely isn't doing enough to save animals with treatable behavioral and medical issues.

"With the live release rate being as low as it is, that just tells me they're just status quo from the 1950s, and that's a shame because I can't believe the folks in Kent County love their animals any less than the folks in Flint or the Upper Peninsula or anywhere else," she said.

Luttmann struggled to explain why Kent County's euthanasia rate is among the highest in the state for the last five years. She attributed the high euthanasia rate to being the only shelter in the region that takes in aggressive and sick animals.

"If that's your defense for your performance, it doesn't cut it," Schutt said. "The vast majority of open admission shelters are saving 90 percent or more of their animals. Is the quality of animals different around the state? I think for the most part they aren't."

The Humane Society of West Michigan in Walker says it accepts aggressive animals as well. But, unlike the Kent County Animal Shelter, the Walker facility does not have officers who respond to calls of loose pets or when dogs have bitten someone.

The majority of dogs Kent County euthanized in 2017 were "beyond behavioral intervention" and posed a threat to the public, Luttmann said. The majority of cats were killed because they're feral and couldn't be placed into homes, she said.

Some cats and dogs were sick or injured past the point of reasonable treatment, even with a full-time veterinarian on staff, according to Luttmann. No animals were killed for lack of space.

"I think as a municipal facility, it's not the number we want," Luttmann said. "If you work in a shelter you want that number to be zero. I'm sorry that's all there is to it; you don't want there to be euthanasia. There has to be to some degree to alleviate suffering, and it's there for a reason."

Of the 2070 dogs and 1569 cats taken in, shelter staff killed 758 dogs and 679 cats, according to 2017 statistics collected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The animal shelter is a division of the Kent County Health Department. The agency is responsible for animal adoption, cruelty and bite investigations, dog licensing and more. The shelter's budget was $2.3 million in 2018.

The shelter has no standard criteria for when an animal is too aggressive or injured and must be put down, Luttmann said. Instead, it's a case-by-case evaluation.

"That's really variable," she said. "It would depend on the situation -- that animal's individual assessment. Medically, they have to be beyond our resources to reasonably help and humanely keep and care."

Assessing a dog's behavior

Not all animals receive a behavioral assessment, though, according to a copy of the shelter's policies and procedures manual obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

"Any dog who has demonstrated aggressive or unsuitable behaviors at the animal shelter or in their previous home environment will not be eligible for behavior evaluation and will be humanely euthanized when their holding period expires unless reclaimed by their owner," the manual states.

"All other dogs will be evaluated prior to being offered for adoption."

The holding period for dogs without "traceable evidence" of ownership is four business days. The period is seven business days for cats and dogs with evidence of ownership.

Every animal, according to Luttmann, receives a health assessment when taken in.

Another section of the manual states although "animals with a history of biting and/or displaying aggressive behavior" are generally not evaluated for adoption, a supervisor can overrule the practice in specific cases.

The manual does not define "aggressive or unsuitable behaviors." It was last revised in September 2017 and is currently undergoing another revision, officials say.

The detriment of this practice, animal advocates argue, is that Kent County is likely euthanizing pets and strays with treatable behavioral problems -- some of which are likely caused by the shelter stay itself.

Some shelter behavioral problems in dogs stem from fear, owner separation, confinement and new environment, according to Schutt.

Schutt said the percentage of dogs euthanized by Kent County is high even for dogs rescued from fighting rings.

The old approach to animal control and sheltering, Schutt said, was to euthanize these "problem" animals. In Michigan, that's changed over the past decade, and now most shelters are saving nearly 90 percent of their cats and dogs.

"When a shelter is performing poorly, they're not doing anything differently, they're holding on to those old practices," Schutt said. "When they tell you, 'Oh they're too sick or have behavior issues,' why aren't they trying to correct them? More than likely they caused a portion of them."

Some "enrichment" techniques that help with behavioral problems include playgroups, daily interaction, chew toys, foster programs and walks, Schutt said. If the animal still has troubles, finding a suitable rescue group or shelter with other resources is key.

At the Kent County shelter, Luttmann said her staff does provide dogs with chew toys, daily interaction, walks and a positive reinforcement technique called "clicker training."

Schutt said Kent County's live release rate, or the number of animals who leave the shelter alive, speaks for itself.

"I'm shocked," Schutt said. "If I'm a taxpayer, how do you justify your taxes going to kill animals when a little extra effort keeps them alive?"

The "extra effort"

Namiko Ota-Noveskey, director of behavior and animal care at the Humane Society of West Michigan, asks a lot of questions when accepting dogs.

When a dog is taken to her and the owner says it's bitten before, answers to those questions predict how much help the animal will need.

"What's the circumstances of the bite?" Ota-Noveskey said she asks. "Who got bit? Where were they bit? Was the person hospitalized? We don't have a policy that just because there's a bite history, this dog should be euthanized."

Dogs with a severe bite history are a rarity, Ota-Noveskey said. More typical are dogs that appear aggressive on drop-off.

"We have many cases of dogs snapping and growling and we just give them space until they do improve," she said. "Just giving them space, choices and time, they'll come around."

Some practices include placing treat bowls near them that visitors can give, so they associate people with positive reinforcement.

If a dog still appears too aggressive, staff will "office foster" the animal, or keep it in their office away from the constant stimulus of strangers and other dogs. Potential adopters can then meet them in that space, where the dog is more settled.

The Humane Society of West Michigan took in 4,251 dogs and cats last year and euthanized only 293 of them, or 6 percent, according to state records.

No home for feral cats

The majority of the 679 cats euthanized by the Kent County Animal Shelter last year were feral, according to Luttmann. Feral cats, sometimes called community cats, live outdoors, have no owner and vary in their socialization with humans.

Last year, the Kent County Animal Shelter trapped, neutered and returned around 100 feral cats to their areas, Luttmann said.

The benefit of returning a feral cat to its area, Luttmann said, is that it competes for the food and resources there, keeping out non-neutered ferals cats. Over time, returning neutered feral cats reduces the overall population.

The decision to euthanize a feral cat or return it to its area after neutering is dependent on two factors, Luttmann said.

First, the cat must be healthy. Second, staff must be assured no one in the return area wants to harm the cat, but that isn't "terribly common," she said.

"I do see that as part of the next big steps that we need to take, as a community," Luttmann said. "How do we assess the community cat population and how do we respond to that in a humane way, because as you asked, euthanasia is not an effective population control method for that kind of thing.

"That's not acceptable to think you can just euthanize your way out of that problem. It doesn't work."

According to Schutt, municipal shelters taking in feral cats is becoming a thing of the past. With little hope to rehome them, there's not much a shelter can do besides euthanize them, if they don't put them back after neutering or place them in a rescue program.

"It's like bringing a squirrel to the shelter," she said. "What's the shelter going to do with them? You're not going to adopt out a squirrel, just like you're not going to adopt out a feral cat."

Turning point

Since 2014, the Kent County Animal Shelter has ranked among the five shelters in the state with the highest rates of euthanasia, according to an analysis of MDARD records.

"Kent County is doing really poorly, consistently poorly," Schutt said.

The euthanasia rate has gone down over time, though. In 2014, the rate was 55 percent. In 2015, it was 64 percent. In 2016, it was 47 percent. In 2017, it was 39 percent.

Luttmann credited the decrease to diminished animal populations and more efforts to treat behavioral and medical problems or transfer the animal to other shelters where those services are available.

But dramatic decreases, Schutt said, come from fresh leadership. She heralded the Genesee County Animal Shelter as an example.

In early 2015, Genesee County Animal Control Director Stephani Lazar resigned after she was suspended by county leaders. Paul Wallace, who remains the director to this day, replaced her.

Genesee County's euthanasia rate went from 32 percent in 2014 to 12 percent the following year under Wallace.

Since then, Genesee County's euthanasia rate has hovered near 10 percent.

"In every instance where we've seen huge turnarounds, it's because they've hired a compassionate director," Schutt said. "They hired somebody new and within two years their save rate just skyrocketed."

Dogs are adoptable from the Kent County Animal Shelter for $147. Cats older than 4 months are $5. Kittens under 4 months are $40.

Adoption hours at the shelter, 740 Fuller Ave. NE, are 9:30 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.