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It’s no secret that Los Angeles and California as a whole are experiencing an inundation of shelter pets, a problem that is leading towards tens of thousands of “unnecessary” deaths, according to one animal welfare organization. 

Best Friends Animal Society, which is championing a campaign to end the killing of dogs and cats in American shelters in 2025, found that California saw a decrease in lifesaving over the past year. 

More than 66,000 dogs and cats died unnecessarily in shelters, Best Friends Animal Society researchers found, which is second in the nation only behind Texas; in 2023, 22,000 more dogs were killed in the Golden State as compared to 2022, an increase of 46%. 

Upwards of 40,900 cats also died “simply because they found themselves temporarily homeless,” the animal welfare group said. 

“Currently, shelters are relying heavily on rescue partners to give them some relief, but we need the community to step in as part of the solution,” Best Friends Animal Society Executive Director Brittany Thorn said. “We are asking Angelenos to support their local shelters through adoption, volunteering, fostering and by asking local policymakers to adopt no-kill resolutions.” 

In order to create a no-kill community, animal rights officials say that greater Los Angeles area shelters – which include two of the largest shelter systems in America, Los Angeles Animal Services and the Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control – must start by creating more robust foster programs, designating staff to be specifically trained with facilitating adoptions and marketing animals in need to potential loving homes. 

LA Animal Services Shelter Crisis
A dog at a Los Angeles city animal shelter. March 2024. (KTLA)

On a national level, 2.3 million dogs and cats were adopted in 2023, which marks a decrease of 345,000 since 2019; pet adoption rates have steadily declined over the last five years while the rate of pets being purchased from breeders and stores rising significantly, Best Friends Animal Society found.   

This figure led animal rights experts to estimate that a net total of 415,000 adoptable dogs and cats were killed in shelters last year. 

“Roughly seven million Americans are planning to acquire a pet this year, and if just six percent more people chose to adopt versus purchase their pets, we would end the killing of dogs and cats in our nation’s shelters,” Julie Castle, Best Friends Animal Society CEO, said. 

More information about Best Friends Animal Society’s largest national adoption campaign can be found here.