Marisol Ramos, who founded Boyle Heights Gatos, works to trap, neuter, return cats at a home in Boyle Heights on April 30, 2025.
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Jaqueline Ramirez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
An estimated 300 community cats near Sonia Villegas' home have all been “fixed,” thanks to her and Boyle Heights Gatos, a volunteer-run group working toward humanely controlling the cat population through a practice known as trap-neuter-return, or TNR.
How it works: Cats are trapped in a box, taken to a veterinarian to get neutered or spayed, and returned to their outdoor homes. Villegas has played a key role by establishing a regular feeding schedule that makes it easier to trap cats at predictable times.
Why it matters: For years, Angelenos have tried to contain cat colonies to help curb the city’s pet overpopulation crisis. But in neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and East L.A., where public services often fall short, residents are taking matters into their own hands. Their grassroots efforts go beyond helping animals, they’re filling service gaps shaped by housing inequalities, rising costs and immigration-related displacement.
Read on... for more about these volunteers' efforts to control the cat population in Boyle Heights.
This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on May 15, 2025
Free-roaming cats emerge from alleys and driveways in this Boyle Heights neighborhood as soon as they sense Sonia Villegas is nearby.
They purr and meow, awaiting their feed, as Villegas fills cardboard bowls with cat food that she carries in a stroller during her evening walk. As they eat, she points to their clipped ears — a sign they’ve been spayed or neutered.
An estimated 300 community cats near her home have all been “fixed,” thanks to Villegas and Boyle Heights Gatos, a volunteer-run group working toward humanely controlling the cat population through a practice known as trap-neuter-return, or TNR. Cats are trapped in a box, taken to a veterinarian to get neutered or spayed, and returned to their outdoor homes. Villegas has played a key role by establishing a regular feeding schedule that makes it easier to trap cats at predictable times.
“It’s not just about feeding. It’s about spaying and neutering, and vaccinating at the same time,” Villegas, 70, says in Spanish. “We don’t want the cats to have so many kittens, leaving the poor kittens abandoned.”
For years, Angelenos have tried to contain cat colonies to help curb the city’s pet overpopulation crisis. But in neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and East L.A., where public services often fall short, residents are taking matters into their own hands. Their grassroots efforts go beyond helping animals, they’re filling service gaps shaped by housing inequalities, rising costs and immigration-related displacement.
“It’s all interconnected,” said Marisol Ramos, who founded Boyle Heights Gatos during the pandemic. “Fear of immigration crackdowns has forced some people to leave, and leave their community pets behind. It’s only going to get worse.”
Cats are lured into box traps with a trail of wet cat food.
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Susanica Tam
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Boyle Heights Beat
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A grassroots effort amid overwhelming need
Ramos finds time to do TNR after her day job as an administrator at UCLA. She begins trapping midweek, usually after 6 p.m., to fill 15 weekly scheduled spay and neuter appointments at FixNation clinic in Sun Valley. She reaches that weekly goal by working with other volunteer trappers in Boyle Heights and East L.A.
Lately, Ramos says she encounters people asking, “What do I need for my cat or dog so I can take them to Mexico?” Or, “This person is [self-deporting]. Can you take the cat to get fixed?”
Then there are the cats she has captured within mobile homes near Olympic Boulevard, placing traps inside the vans where unhoused people live. “They [the unhoused] care about their animals, and a lot of the shelters don’t allow you to bring your pet so people choose to live inside a car just to be with their pets. They need services,” she said.
Ramos estimates she helped sterilize 600 cats last year and is tracking another 600 free-roaming cats that need spay and neuter care just in East L.A. and Boyle Heights. She collects tips from neighbors and Instagram DMs, then logs the information on Google Maps to determine which locations to strategically target.
“There’s a lot of need, and it’s up to us regular people to figure out what to do,” said Ramos, who lives in Boyle Heights.
Marisol Ramoss sets up a cat trap in Boyle Heights on April 30, 2025.
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Susanica Tam
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Trapping cats can take an hour, days, weeks or even months.
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Susanica Tam
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Ramos also helps residents navigate the shame and judgment that comes from unmanaged cat colonies near their homes. Many residents doing TNR in Boyle Heights and East L.A. are Spanish-speaking and Ramos is there to explain the process and understand how the situation got out of hand.
“There are people who are irresponsible, but there are also a lot more people who are like, ‘I just don’t have money to pay.’ Because if you go to a vet, they [can] charge you like $400 for a spay and neuter.”
Ramos, herself, spent more than $30,000 last year on sterilization, including about $10,000 from her own pocket. She secured grants and took up consulting jobs to help pay for those services, and also used vouchers from the Citywide Cat Program to cover costs.
Now, as the city navigates a budget shortfall, advocates like Ramos are urging the city to prioritize increasing reimbursement rates covering sterilization costs. To Ramos, TNR offers a band-aid to the issue. The real solution, she said, is making spay and neuter easier to access.
“If the city pushed for affordable spay neuter options [and] made that accessible, I don’t think we would be in the situation that we’re in,” Ramos said.
A distrust of outside rescuers
In Boyle Heights and East L.A., Ramos was intent on setting clear boundaries for TNR, especially after witnessing outsiders strolling in to trap and “rescue” cats without making contact with neighbors.
Across social media, Ramos has encountered trappers who share about cats they’ve found in “terrible living situations” or in a “poor neighborhood with lots of violence.” She’s seen people who come in and take kittens, leaving the adult cats “to continue breeding,” and neighbors wondering about the whereabouts of the community cats they’ve been feeding.
“They’re painting a picture of the neighborhood as this is bad Boyle Heights, [a] bad part of East L.A., gang-infested, garbage ridden, just to make a story about saving a cat appealing to that savior mentality,” Ramos said.
On a recent Wednesday evening, Ramos trapped six cats with the help of Katelyn Vargas, a Boyle Heights resident who reached out to her after noticing a surge of community cats around her home. Three of them were pregnant.
She trapped the first three on the grounds of Vargas’ home and the other half within the property of the next-door neighbor, who had amassed more than a dozen community cats in her yard.
The cats were lured into box traps with a trail of wet cat food as bait on sheets of paper. Once inside, a trigger plate shut the door. Ramos put the cats at ease, covering the cages with blankets or towels.
Trapping that evening took about an hour, a success story considering that sometimes it takes days, weeks or even months to trap certain cats.
But Ramos couldn’t shake a feeling of helplessness, realizing they had not yet reached containment in that specific neighborhood. “I thought we had it under control when I last came here,” she said.
To Ramos, TNR is a “community responsibility.”
“I’m not a person coming in to rescue, or be a savior to anybody. I help people by bringing the traps and transporting them, but I encourage everybody to learn how to trap,” she said.
What to expect: Another mild day with partly cloudy skies.
What about the temperatures: In Orange County, coastal areas will see highs around 62 degrees. Meanwhile, in L.A. County, the beaches will be a bit warmer with highs around 70 degrees, and in the mid-70s for the valleys.
Read on ... for more details.
QUICK FACTS
Today’s weather: Partly cloudy
Beaches: Around 70s
Mountains: Mid-60s to low 70s at lower elevations
Inland: 69 to 75 degrees
Warnings and advisories: None
We're in for another mild day with partly to mostly cloudy skies. The National Weather Service forecasts that come Thursday, temperatures will rise more and the Santa Ana winds will return.
Coastal communities in the L.A. area will see highs mostly around 70 degrees today. Meanwhile, the Orange County coast will stay cooler with high temperatures around 62 degrees.
More inland, the valleys and the Inland Empire will see highs from 69 to 75 degrees, up to 76 degrees in Coachella Valley. In the Antelope Valley, highs will be mostly in the low 60s.
Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment and digital equity reporter.
Published January 28, 2026 5:00 AM
L.A. City Council members could ask voters to raise hotel taxes, rideshare taxes, vacant property taxes and more.
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Tom Szczerbowski
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Getty Images North America
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Topline:
L.A. voters could be asked this year — in elections in June and November — to raise taxes in a number of ways to help fund city services.
What measures are up for discussion? There are seven! On Tuesday, the L.A. City Council directed the city attorney to draft two options for a hotel tax. The first is a 4% increase that falls to 2% after the Olympics; the second is a 2% increase that drops to 1% after the Games. The council will choose one of those options to put before voters. Another ballot measure ordinance will be drafted to start taxing unlicensed cannabis shops.
Wait, aren’t unlicensed cannabis shops illegal? Yes, but they do exist across L.A. Licensed cannabis shops are responsible for a 9.75% sales tax, 10% business tax and 19% state cannabis excise tax. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez voted against taxing the illegal businesses. “You're setting up, unintentionally, a false expectation that you're going to be able to hold these guys accountable,” Rodriguez said, adding that the city attorney should instead be shutting those shops down.
What about the other measures? A 5% increase in the parking tax was sent back to the budget and finance committee for further discussion.
The council also directed the city attorney to look into additional tax measures for the November ballot.
A 6% tax on tickets for events with more than 5,000 attendees.
A tax on shared rides like Uber and Lyft.
A vacant properties tax to encourage renting or selling.
A retail deliveries tax: a $1 flat fee on delivered goods.
Is raising taxes the only solution for the city’s budget? Rodriguez — who voted against the tax ballot measures — said the city needs to think about tightening its belt. “If we're not having a full conversation around where we're going to cut back, but we're going to talk to taxpayers about increasing more, it's a really big problem,” Rodriguez said.
What’s next? The city attorney’s office has until Feb. 11 to draft any measures that will appear on the June primary ballot.
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State wants feedback from gas facility's neighbors
Erin Stone
is a reporter who covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published January 28, 2026 5:00 AM
The Aliso Canyon gas storage facility was the site of the largest known methane leak in U.S. history in 2015.
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Topline:
The state wants to hear from people who live near the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility in the hills above Porter Ranch about how to spend $14 million awarded through a legal settlement.
The background: The Southern California Gas-owned storage reservoir in the San Fernando Valley was the source of the largest known methane leak in U.S. history in 2015. Thousands of residents in Porter Ranch, Chatsworth and Granada Hills were forced to evacuate. Ten years on, many residents are still concerned about the health effects and ongoing pollution from the site. As part of a settlement with SoCalGas, California received $71 million as part of a legal settlement with SoCal Gas reached in 2018. The gas utility and its parent company, Sempra Energy, paid more than $2 billion in settlements and fines for the leak.
What’s next: The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation is looking to invest $14 million from the Aliso Canyon gas leak legal settlement. They’ll host listening sessions throughout the year to hear from residents on how they’d like to see those funds used.
How to get involved: The sessions are open to residents who were affected by the Aliso Canyon disaster or who live or work in the communities of Porter Ranch, Granada Hills, Northridge, Chatsworth, North Hills, Canoga Park, Reseda, Winnetka, West Hills, Van Nuys and Lake Balboa. Here’s the info for upcoming listening sessions:
An anti-ICE protester challenges deputies in Paramount.
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Carlin Stiehl
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Getty Images
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Topline:
A bill that would make it easier for Californians to sue immigration agents and other federal officials for civil rights violations sailed through the state Senate on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Senate Bill 747, dubbed the No Kings Act, would create a first-in-the-nation legal pathway for residents to seek financial damages in state court for excessive force, false arrest and other violations of constitutional rights committed by federal officers.
Why now: The bill was written by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. If state or local law enforcement officers had shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two people recently killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, they could be held financially liable, he said.
How we got here: The measure passed the state Senate on a 30-10 party-line vote, with Republicans arguing the bill could expose local police to more lawsuits.
Read on ... for more on the bill and the larger national context.
A bill that would make it easier for Californians to sue immigration agents and other federal officials for civil rights violations sailed through the state Senate on Tuesday.
Senate Bill 747, dubbed the No Kings Act, would create a first-in-the-nation legal pathway for residents to seek financial damages in state court for excessive force, false arrest and other violations of constitutional rights committed by federal officers.
The bill was written by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. If state or local law enforcement officers had shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two people recently killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, they could be held financially liable, he said.
“But under current law, it’s almost impossible to file that same lawsuit against a federal agent who does the same thing,” Wiener said. “If the federal government won’t hold these agents accountable for violating the Constitution, we will.”
The measure passed the state Senate on a 30-10 party-line vote, with Republicans arguing the bill could expose local police to more lawsuits.
Tuesday’s vote is the latest move by Democrats in the state Legislature to create a bulwark against the Trump administration’s deportation crackdown.
Last year, lawmakers set aside $25 million for legal nonprofits to defend residents facing detention or deportation. They also approved a bill, written by Wiener, to prohibit local and federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks on duty — which is currently facing a legal challenge from the Trump administration.
SB 747’s supporters said it would give Californians a chance to hold federal officials accountable in a way that can be difficult under current law.
Border patrol agents march to the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building on Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. California prosecutors are pushing back on claims from the federal government that ICE agents have immunity from prosecution, vowing to investigate federal agents who break the law.
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Carlin Stiehl
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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“Today we are deliberating an issue to try to solve and also remedy the fear that folks are living with,” said Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara. “In combination with the fact that we have not seen due process.”
Wiener argued that existing law makes it difficult for victims to receive damages in federal court. For example, the Federal Tort Claims Act protects the government from liability arising from decisions made by individual officers and requires plaintiffs to first file an administrative claim.
Supporters of SB 747 include the Prosecutors Alliance, a coalition of progressive district attorneys, and Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, which advocates for immigrants in California’s Inland Empire.
The bill is opposed by organizations representing California police officers, sheriffs and Highway Patrol officers.
They argued the change will undercut an existing state law, known as the Bane Act, which requires Californians who sue law enforcement officials to show that a civil rights violation was accomplished through “threats, intimidation, or coercion.”
“The question before you is not whether accountability should exist, but what creating a second, overlapping state system actually adds — other than more litigation and more risk for those on the front lines,” said Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Santa Clarita.
During debate on the Senate floor, Wiener said local police officers and sheriffs can already be sued under federal law for violating constitutional rights.
“The liability that local and state police officers face will be the same after this is signed into law as before,” Wiener said. “It doesn’t change that.”
Senate Bill 747 now heads to the state Assembly.
In an analysis of SB 747, staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote, “the bill is very likely to be challenged by the federal government if signed into law.”
