LA animal shelters near capacity, Angelenos urged to foster or adopt
LOS ANGELES - LA Animal Services' shelters are nearing capacity, prompting city officials Friday to urge Angelenos to foster or adopt some of the animals.
"We've leaned on our community in times of need and have never been let down," said Dana Brown, LA Animal Services general manager. "We hope we can rely on their support again as we ask them to adopt or foster a pet looking for their new home."
Credit: LA Animal Services
LA Animal Services' six locations are full of dogs, cats and kittens who are spayed and neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and ready for adoption. As the shelters are nearing capacity, officials are also urging pet owners who are considering surrendering their animals to seek other alternatives, including seeking friends or family members to take over pet ownership or use the programs Home to Home or Safety Net Foster.
People interested in adopting can visit LA Animal Services locations without an appointment on Saturday or Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. If a potential adopter wants to visit between Tuesday and Friday, they can schedule an appointment at lacityvet.com/appointments or by calling 1-888-452-7381.
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People interested in fostering can take a dog for just a day, or up to three months. Fostering gives animals a break from the shelter, and fosterers can choose to adopt the animals themselves. People interested in fostering can visit laanimalservices.com/adopt to identify an animal they want to foster, then email the volunteer liaison at ani.volunteers@lacity.org with their completed foster application, a photo of their government-issued ID and the Animal ID numbers of the pets they're interested in fostering.
People interested in fostering a kitten can email Thomas Kalinowski at thomas.kalinowski@lacity.org. LA Animal Services is also looking for people who can foster moms with their litters, sick kittens and baby kittens who haven't yet learned to eat on their own and require bottle feeding. People who are interested in fostering those animals can email ani.volunteers@lacity.org. A foster application is available at https://bit.ly/3BuIGJf.
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