Animal welfare volunteers in Los Angeles say more shelter cats and dogs are at risk as crowding deepens and euthanasia totals climb.
They say city policy has focused too heavily on what happens after animals arrive at shelters while giving too little support to prevention steps that could curb unwanted litters.
What's happening?
The New York Post cited Los Angeles Animal Services data showing that the city had euthanized 2,172 cats, kittens, and dogs through May 2026, up from 1,630 in the same stretch of 2025. That amounts to a 33% increase, and the figures also indicate euthanasia rates in May 2026 were 27% higher than in May 2025.
Volunteers said the increase had accompanied more urgent pleas to save animals placed on euthanasia lists.
"We've never had dogs put on the kill list like we do now," Adelle Smener, founder of Big Dog Energy and a volunteer at the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter, told the Post.
Smener described rescue work as an immediate scramble once a dog is marked for euthanasia.
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"The second a dog gets put on the euthanasia list, it's pedal to the metal. We're networking, texting everyone. It's beyond stressful because it feels like that dog's life is in our hands," she said.
For advocates, the cases of dogs such as Tiberio and Gotham — both of whom drew last-minute rescue efforts before being euthanized — illustrate a shelter network they said is running short on both space and alternatives.
Why does it matter?
Rescue organizations said lax enforcement of spay-and-neuter rules is a key reason the problem keeps growing, especially in places such as Skid Row. Joey Tuccio, a volunteer with the nonprofit Starts With One Today, said his group didn't encounter a single sterilized dog during one rescue trip there, and he estimated that about 80% to 90% of the dogs the organization sees in the area are unsterilized.
Shira Astrof, founder of The Animal Rescue Mission, told the Post that "city and county shelters are euthanizing massive numbers of dogs because there is no meaningful prevention being implemented by our city or county."
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What's being done?
Advocates have also criticized the city's funding choices. They said Los Angeles eliminated a $5.285 million high-volume spay-and-neuter program from the 2024-25 fiscal year and replaced it with a voucher system that reimburses private veterinary clinics one procedure at a time, a change they believe results in fewer animals being sterilized before they can reproduce, according to the Post.
Other budget proposals fueled more alarm. In Mayor Karen Bass' initial 2026-27 budget draft, a $1.6 million dog enrichment program, plus funding for pet food and medical supplies, would have been cut. However, Bass later rolled back some of those cuts after City Council objections.
The Michelson Center for Public Policy said both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 city budgets underfunded spay-and-neuter efforts and estimated the 2026-27 plan needed at least $3.5 million more.
Los Angeles Animal Services rejected the idea that the city is in an unprecedented euthanasia emergency. The department said its 2025 live-release rates were 90.6% for dogs and 81.6% for cats and kittens and that those levels have stayed largely consistent in 2026. It also said it performed or supported 62,692 spay-and-neuter surgeries.
The department further pointed to a new $14 million partnership that Bass announced, saying the effort is designed to strengthen shelter operations, increase adoptions and fostering, reconnect lost pets with their owners, and help families keep their animals.
Even so, use of subsidized prevention programs was declining. May 2026 redemptions for free spay-and-neuter certificates fell 19% from May 2025, and community coupon usage was down 25% from May 2025.
"The city needs to start taking this crisis seriously," Astrof said. "More and more animals are dying."
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