Los Angeles Animal Services and Best Friends Animal Society Encourages Angelenos to “Save the Kittens” and Get City to No Kill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LA Animal Services Media Contact: Justin Khosrowabadi, (213) 482-9551 or justin.khosrowabadi@lacity.org
Best Friends Media Contact: Michelle Sathe (661) 803-2909 or michellesathe@bestfriends.org
Los Angeles Animal Services and Best Friends Animal Society Encourages Angelenos to
“Save the Kittens” and Get City to No Kill
Approximately 165 more kittens and cats need to be adopted or fostered each month throughout 2019 due to increased intake
Los Angeles, September 25, 2019 – Kittens. They’re cute, they’re cuddly, and they’ve been flooding the six Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) centers in droves since March.
“This is the most intense kitten season we’ve ever seen,” said Brenda Barnette, General Manager of LAAS. “Intake has been averaging 22 percent higher for kittens and 14 percent higher for cats this year, which translates to more than 3,000 additional kittens and cats coming to our centers than we saw in 2018.”
With so many felines in need of homes, LAAS is partnering with Best Friends Animal Society in Los Angeles to encourage Angelenos to “Save the Kittens”, with a goal of 165 additional kitten and cat adoptions or foster homes each month throughout the rest of the year.
Doing so will not only help more felines find their families, it’ll help make Los Angeles the nation’s largest no kill city, which is the goal of the Best Friends-led No Kill Los Angeles (NKLA) Initiative, which hit a record 89.7 percent save rate for pets entering LAAS centers in 2018. This is a dramatic increase from the 57.7 percent save rate at LAAS when NKLA was launched in 2012. The benchmark for no kill is 90 percent.
“With so many cats and kittens entering the LA shelter system, L.A. pets need you now more than ever before,” said Jennifer Pimentel, executive director for Best Friends Animal Society in Los Angeles. “If you’re in the market for a kitten or cat, please come down and adopt one, or two, from Best Friends or LAAS. It will make a huge impact on the cats and the shelter staff who care for them, too.”
Adoptions are free for kittens and cats at LA Animal Services through 2019. Best Friends offers feline adoptions for $25 and under at its two adoption centers: the Best Friends Lifesaving Center in Mission Hills and NKLA Pet Adoption Center in West Los Angeles.
“In a city of 4 million, thousands of people have already raised their hand to help. We need just a few more,” Pimentel said. “Be one of them and help us turn LA into NKLA.”
To find out more, visit www.laanimalservices.org or www.bestfriendsla.org.
Los Angeles Department of Animal Services is one of the largest municipal shelter systems in the United States with six services centers serving approximately 60,000 animals annually and responding to 20,000 emergency calls involving an animal or person in danger. LA Animal Services promotes and protects the health, safety and welfare of animals and people.
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 2,700 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from an estimated 17 million per year to around 733,000. That means there are still about 2,000 dogs and cats killed every day in shelters, just because they don’t have safe places to call home. We are determined to bring the country to no-kill by the year 2025. Working collaboratively with shelters, rescue groups, other organizations and you, we will end the killing and Save Them All. To check out our community lifesaving dashboard and for more information, visit bestfriends.org.
Join the conversation on Facebook.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety, Twitter (@BestFriends) and Instagram (@BestFriendsAnimalSociety).
###
