Los Angeles Animal Services is in a prolonged crisis: overcrowded, understaffed, and coming off a budget fight where cuts would have meant closing shelters and spiking euthanasia, narrowly offset by a one‑time budget patch but not a structural fix.
As a long‑time cat rescuer, participant in trap‑neuter‑release in East Hollywood, former interim executive director of Kitten Rescue in Atwater Village, supporter of FixNation, and a dog rescuer from the streets of Hollywood and South L.A., this topic hits very close to home.
Where LA Animal Services is now
Shelters are operating capacity, which drives disease, fights, and a higher risk of euthanasia.
Euthanasia has already climbed sharply in the last couple of years, with large increases for dogs in particular.
The department has been structurally understaffed, relying heavily on volunteers and rescues to keep animals enriched, walked, and marketed for adoption.
Budget and staffing reality
Recent city budgets proposed deep cuts that would have closed 3 out of the 6 city shelters and eliminated dozens of positions, which advocates warned would push conditions from bad to catastrophic.
After public pressure, some money was restored so no shelter formally closed, but that fix is temporary and doesn’t solve the structural shortfall.
Even at current funding, there are not enough Animal Care Technicians, behavior staff, or medical resources to give each animal daily out‑of‑kennel time and basic behavior support.
We need more education
Many pet surrenders are preventable: people give up animals over housing, behavior, vet costs, or landlord issues that could often be solved with targeted support before they ever reach a shelter.
Los Angeles does occasional campaigns and adoption pushes, but there is no sustained, city‑backed education effort on the scale of what we do for recycling, traffic safety, or emergency preparedness.
A serious education agenda should include:
Citywide “keep pets in homes” messaging on behavior basics, low‑cost vet care, and tenants’ rights with pets, pushed through LAUSD, libraries, Rec & Parks, and city social media.
Normalizing fostering as a standard civic act, so “adopt, foster, or sponsor” becomes the default ask whenever the city talks about animals.
Training for frontline city staff (housing, homelessness outreach, LAPD, sanitation, case workers) on how to route people with animals to resources instead of defaulting to surrender.
What else we need to do
Lock in baseline staffing and hours
Fully fund all animal care technician positions and set minimum staffing ratios in law so they can’t quietly be cut in future budgets.
Mandate minimum open hours, including evenings and weekends, so working families can actually adopt and reclaim animals.
Build real volunteer and rescue partnerships
Fund a full‑time volunteer coordinator at each shelter to recruit, train, and retain volunteers instead of treating it as an add‑on.
Formalize agreements with rescue partners, including clear transfer targets each month (especially for large‑breed dogs) and small grants tied to results.
Slow intake and support diversion
Stand up a diversion program at the front counter: before accepting an owner surrender, offer behavior help, temporary food or boarding, or pet‑deposit assistance when that’s cheaper and kinder than sheltering.
Fully fund the city’s 4.7 million dollars for spay and neuter vouchers, both free and low‑cost
Increase outflow and make adoption the default
Continue reduced or waived adoption fees, paired with good counseling and post‑adoption support so animals don’t bounce back into the system.
Require every shelter to have a basic marketing pipeline: quality photos and videos, automatic cross‑posting of animals online, and regular in‑shelter and community adoption events.