Led Best Friends Animal Society, NKLA (No-Kill Los Angeles) is a movement of rescues, like Much Love, and passionate people in LA looking for ways to stop the needless killing of healthy and adoptable animals in our city shelters. The NKLA website and graphics tell the story the best. Please visit NKLA.org for more information and take a close look at this informative outline of what happens in LA city shelter, and how you can help.
Below, read an article by volunteer Victoria Pombeiro about NKLA’s efforts to try to make December 2012 a no-kill month.
LA Survives No Kill December – Is There Hope For NKLA?
Last month, Best Friends Animal Society issued the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services with a tough challenge: not to euthanize a single healthy or treatable animal in the month of December.
Given that 28 percent of the 3,632 dogs and cats that were taken in by city shelters in December 2011 were destroyed, shelter staff and rescue organizations faced an uphill battle.
But with a huge amount of effort from determined animal lovers, a big advertising push from NKLA, and a great holiday adoption incentive program by Found Animals, the city celebrated its best month on record.
Best Friends reports an 84 percent save rate for December – not quite meeting its target of 90 percent, but easily beating annual save rates from previous years, which average 60-65 percent.
This achievement translates to thousands of lives saved, a victory that wouldn’t be possible without the help of rescue groups like Much Love and its amazing supporters.
By maximizing the number of pets we take out of city shelters and fostering them until they find their forever homes, we’re giving shelters the space to keep animals longer, increasing their chances of survival.
But we’ll need to keep the momentum going to help NKLA reach its goal of making LA a no-kill city within the next five years.
The coalition’s strategy is two-fold: to increase the number of adoptions so that more animals can find their forever homes, and to provide spay and neuter services where needed to decrease the number of homeless and unwanted pets.
Both goals can be achieved if we all work together. Here’s to a no-kill future!
Get Involved
How you can help LA become a no-kill city by 2017:
Adopt – Looking for a new best friend? Look no further than your local shelter. There are thousands of adoptable animals out there waiting for their forever home.
Foster – Not ready or able to adopt? Fostering an animal until it finds a permanent home is a rewarding experience that helps to get shelter pets accustomed to a safe and loving home life, increasing their chances of adoption.
Spay/Neuter – Puppies and kittens are cute, but thousands of animals are euthanized each year because people choose to breed their pets or fail to have them spayed or neutered. The procedure is beneficial to both pets and owners, and with numerous subsidized spay and neuter programs available, it is rarely cost-prohibitive.
Volunteer – Spending time at a shelter or rescue organization is a rewarding experience that really makes a difference. There are numerous volunteer opportunities to choose from, many of which offer valuable training and experience. Plus, if you can’t have a pet, volunteering is a great way to get your regular fur fix!
Donate – Donations are vital sources of income for rescue organizations. They help provide food, shelter, and medical treatment for rescued animals and fund community programs that decrease the number of homeless and stray pets. Even small contributions can make a big difference, so if you have a spare couple of dollars consider passing them on to your local animal rescue group. They’ll be eternally grateful.
