Animal welfare
The problem
Every week in Los Angeles, healthy animals are killed simply because there is nowhere for them to go. In 2024, over 1,200 dogs and 1,500 cats were euthanized in just the first nine months because city shelters were housing nearly twice the number of animals they were built for. City Hall responded by cutting the animal services budget, and the department operated without a permanent General Manager for nearly two years during the worst crisis in the system's recent history. There's little reason to think the numbers in 2025 will be less harrowing.
Our plan
Invest in and fix the city's spay-and-neuter voucher program by increasing funding, bringing participating vets back, and expanding mobile clinics into every neighborhood. We also need to scale up the Citywide Cat Program, which provides trap-neuter-return services for community cats. Spay-and-neuter programs are the only way to reduce shelter intake at scale, and the city has been moving in the wrong direction.
Fund the basics that make shelter life humane. That means enough staff, programs, and volunteers to give dogs regular walks and behavioral enrichment; proper care and medicine for sick and injured animals; and the supplies the department needs to meaningfully care for the animals in city shelters.
Ensure stable, experienced leadership at Animal Services with the authority and accountability to actually fix the department. We need real transparency about what's happening inside city shelters and sincere partnership with the volunteers and nonprofits who have been holding this system together. Staff and volunteers have been sounding the alarm for years; they deserve to be part of the solution.
Crack down on backyard breeders and animal cruelty by properly staffing the city’s enforcement teams, targeting the worst offenders with data, and holding the department accountable to measurable results aligned with best practices.
Bring real oversight and accountability to LA Animal Services. The City Controller has launched an independent performance audit of the department. We'll commit to acting on its findings and requiring regular public reporting so Angelenos can see whether conditions are actually improving.
Keep pets in their homes in the first place through pet retention programs, including a pet food pantry and accessible veterinary care, so that fewer animals end up in shelters. Most pets surrendered to our shelters come from families who love them but can't afford a vet bill or a bag of food. Helping them is a fraction of what it costs the city to house and feed an animal long-term.