I don't have information on demand, but just wanted to present one other potential factor-- marketing. Years ago, my local shelter had "pit bull rules" that called out the breed as something different and added requirements for adopters. The year before I started volunteering, I think they adopted out something like 22 of them, out of about 250 that came in. The year I started, about halfway through the year, staff went to Animal Farm Foundation and learned about labels and marketing. They made a concerted effort to simply get to know each dog and teach volunteers about labels, visual identification, etc. That year they adopted out like twice as many pit bull type dogs that year. The next year they started a short-term foster program and got rid of the "pit bull" rules. People loved to be able to take dogs out of the shelter for a few hours or overnight and for the first time, started doing this with all breeds of dog. That year, they adopted out so many pit bull type dogs that they started transferring them in from other counties. I think it's possible that demand isn't a set number, but something dynamic that responds when we get to know individual each dog, learn their strengths and cute quirks and market them as individuals.
------------------------------
Kelly Duer
Senior Shelter Solutions Specialist
Maddie's Fund
------------------------------