A groundbreaking national collaborative of animal welfare organizations and academic veterinary programs has formed to provide support to the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services in the face of ongoing national challenges. This new coalition, known as the LAAS Strategic Support Collaborative, has announced that it will bring together renowned experts and organizations and will partner with LA Animal Services to address both immediate needs and long-term issues within LA’s animal sheltering system. Read the joint LAAS Strategic Support Collaborative statement here.

LA Animal Services, one of the largest animal shelter systems in the United States, has been dealing with chronic overcrowding, understaffing, and operational difficulties for years. While LA Animal Services staff and volunteers have shown unwavering dedication to the care of thousands of animals, these barriers have made it difficult to deliver the humane care that every animal deserves. Now, with the backing of this unprecedented collaborative effort, LA Animal Services is poised to receive a much-needed infusion of support.

The LAAS Strategic Support Collaborative includes a diverse array of national and regional organizations such as the ASPCA, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Outcomes for Pets Consulting, Petco Love, Petsmart Charities, Jackson Galaxy Enterprises, Dogs Playing for Life, San Diego Humane Society, VCA Charities, UC Davis Shelter Medicine Program, the University of Florida Shelter Medicine Program, and more. These partners are united in their commitment to working side by side with LA Animal Services and City of Los Angeles leadership to create a safe, compassionate, effective, and life-saving system for animals in LA.

“There is a national crisis of overcrowding in Animal Shelters across the country, especially in the wake of increased animal abandonment following the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “Los Angeles Animal Services has been working with urgency and around the clock to find and implement the most effective policies to prioritize the safety of animals in the City’s care, while protecting the public and the dedicated staff and volunteers who work in the shelters. More than 22,000 animals have either been adopted or rescued, which is a 17% increase from this time last year. The urgent work will continue with the Animal Welfare organizations as LA Animal Services continues to save lives and prioritize safety.”

“Every 10 minutes, a new animal enters an LA City shelter,” said Annette Ramirez, Acting General Manager for LA Animal Services. “Animals are staying too long in the shelter, leading to the overpopulation our six shelters have been facing. The support from the LAAS Strategic Support Collaborative will help change that. In response to this unprecedented crisis, we are taking unprecedented action with unprecedented support.”

From January through August of 2024, LA Animal Services has helped more than 25,000 animals through adoption, reunification, transfers to New Hope Partners, and more. This represents a 16% increase over last year. Getting pets to these outcomes faster, which will reduce overcrowding, will be a large part of the collective’s immediate focus.

A Comprehensive Strategy for Transformation

This new partnership will address both immediate and long-term challenges by focusing on several core objectives:

• Improve humane treatment of sheltered pets: Ensuring every animal in an LA Animal Services Center receives appropriate care and veterinary support.
• Reduce the time animals spend in shelters: Implementing programs to reduce the amount of time animals spend in the shelter through pathway planning at intake, and increasing spay and neuter capacity for adoptable pets so they can go to their new homes sooner.
• Policies and procedures based on best practice guidelines: Providing updated training for staff and volunteers, and revising policies and procedures to reflect data and research-based best practices in animal care.
• Community Engagement: Working with local groups and community members in shaping and supporting efforts that reflect the needs of the LA community.

The LAAS Strategic Support Collaborative will offer financial support, veterinary services, behavioral expertise, and operational guidance to help LA Animal Services improve our care and increase lifesaving. This effort will be driven by decades of research, science, and proven models from other successful shelter systems across the country. 

Join Us in Making a Difference

LA Animal Services invites the public to join in this journey toward a more compassionate future for LA’s animals. Everyone can play a role in making a difference:

• Adopt a shelter pet. 
• Foster - A few weeks to a few months can make a huge difference!
• Volunteer - Exercise, train, and socialize animals to get them ready for their new home. Sign up today by clicking here.
• Spay/neuter your pets - Visit laspayneuter.com to receive a free or discounted Spay and Neuter voucher.
• Donate to our spay/neuter fund so we can help stop the pet overpopulation crisis. 
• Found a lost pet? Skip the shelter altogether and participate in our Shelter at Home program. Keep dogs and cats that you find in their own neighborhoods for a few days and use our resources to try to find the owner before bringing them to a shelter.
• Found orphaned kittens? Monitor kittens that you find to make sure that the mother is not coming back before removing them. Consider fostering the kittens in your neighborhoods and participate in our Shelter at Home program before taking them to a shelter. 

For more information on how you can get involved, please sign up to receive updates and the latest news from LA Animal Services by clicking here. Together, we can create a shelter system that the people and pets of Los Angeles deserve.