Dr. Gary K. Michelson Praises City of Los Angeles’s Investment in LA Animal Services to Address Animal Shelter Overcrowding Crisis
$4.1 Million for Los Angeles Animal Services will Save Taxpayer Dollars and Animal Lives
LOS ANGELES (June 5, 2024)—In a major victory for animal wellbeing in Los Angeles, the 2024-2025 city budget allocates an additional $4.1 million to Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS), thanks to support from Budget Committee Chair Councilmember Bob Blumenfield and the Los Angeles City Council, approved by Mayor Karen Bass today.
Local municipal shelters are reeling from record numbers of unwanted pets. Vital funding increases in this year’s budget include $1.7 million allocated to the LAAS spay and neuter voucher program via the Animal Sterilization Trust Fund and a $900,000 increase for the Citywide Cat Program, which helps provide free and low-cost Trap-Neuter-Return services for feral or community cats.
“We salute Mayor Bass, Councilmember Blumenfield, and members of the City Council for their bold and visionary leadership to tackle this priority issue for Angelenos,” said Dr. Gary K. Michelson, founder and co-chair, Michelson Found Animals Foundation. “This funding is essential to solving our animal shelter overcrowding crisis at its root. We support these efforts to raise the spay and neuter voucher amount to a sustainable rate which will encourage more private veterinarians to partner with the city to ease the backlog of procedures for shelter pets, reduce shelter intake from unwanted litters, and improve the lives of pets in our communities with increased access to vet care. Ultimately, this investment will produce a windfall of savings in both taxpayer dollars and animal lives.”
Michelson Found Animals Foundation is a leading animal welfare non-profit that believes people and pets are better together. Co-chaired by Dr. Gary K. Michelson and Alya Michelson, Michelson Found Animals operates a range of programs, including community partnerships, catalytic grants, impact investments, and education and advocacy initiatives that share a common goal: to champion pets at every point they intersect with our society. Michelson Found Animals has helped more than 8 million pets since it was founded in 2005. Learn more at foundanimals.org.