L.A. closer to ‘no-kill’ animal shelters as euthanization rates drop
A German shepherd mix dog peers from his cage at the Chesterfield Square shelter in South Los Angeles.
Officials at Los Angeles Animal Services say they are moving steadily closer to transforming their animal shelters to “no kill” zones as dog and cat euthanization rates drop citywide and pet placements increase.
The number of euthanizations performed at Los Angeles animal shelters dropped from 8,240 from July to March in 2014-15 to 6,214 for the same period so far this year, according to the latest Los Angeles Animal Services figures.
The decrease is due mostly to the city’s partnership with Best Friends Animal Society, an organization leading the No-Kill Los Angeles initiative by working together with animal welfare organizations to help pets find homes and save lives.
“The goal is to transform the city of Los Angeles into no-kill, which means that 90% of the dogs/cats who need sheltering will have a positive outcome,” the agency’s spokeswoman Sara Ebrahimi said.
Officials hope Los Angeles reaches this goal by 2017, making it “the largest city in the nation to achieve the coveted status for pets,” she said.
The No-Kill Los Angeles coalition found homes for about 27,000 dogs and cats last year, Ebrahimi said.
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