Los Angeles has officially become a “no-kill” shelter city when it comes to rescue animals, making it the largest such city in the country.
L.A.'s save rate, which references the number of animals who are rescued and then rehoused, fostered or adopted, is now up to 90.4%, just over the 90% threshold needed to claim no-kill status.
The No-Kill Los Angeles initiative was launched nine years ago by Best Friends Animal Society. Jennifer Pimentel, the organization’s executive director, says the no-kill designation came with a lot of hard work and innovation, especially during a pandemic.
“The community stepped up like never before,” she says. “Foster placements went through the roof, and groups really started working directly with the community to find alternatives for people who needed to surrender their pets … it was a lot of things over a really grueling year.”
Pimentel hopes the success of L.A.’s efforts can serve as a model for other cities and states.
Currently, the United States has a collective 79% save rate. Delaware is the only no-kill state, but Utah could soon be the second.
