Each morning, a staff member from Los Angeles Animal Services’ West L.A. shelter drives to L.A. Love & Leashes,

greeting our own staff with a variety of dogs and cats living at the shelter and looking for their forever homes. Those animals

not adopted during the day return to the shelter each night but keep coming back to us until they are adopted or rescued.

Our adoption center provides a warm and calming environment for the animals’ true personalities to emerge and offers a less intimidating, more fun and engaging way for people to meet their new best friend. Adoption fees collected by L.A. Love & Leashes are the same as those charged at the Los Angeles city shelters, and 100% of those fees go straight to the

shelter the same day they’re collected.

 

 

Changing Perceptions about Shelter Pets

Unfortunately, many people still hold misguided views about shelter animals, stereotyping them as somehow damaged or not suitable as family pets. By providing the opportunity for direct and stress-free interaction with the wonderful dogs and cats we’re privileged to host in our adoption center each day, and also through conversations our staff and volunteers have with visitors, we’re able to educate people about the benefits of adopting a shelter animal, help correct misconceptions about them, and generally improve public perception about the animals that, through no fault of their own, are simply waiting for loving homes in our city shelters.

 

 

100% Animal Welfare Focus 

 L.A. Love & Leashes is not a rescue organization. We’re therefore unable to take in lost or abandoned animals. Instead, the fundamental focus of L.A. Love & Leashes is to help our city shelters save lives by increasing the number of animals adopted because unfortunately, no animal living in a Los Angeles city shelter is fully safe until being adopted into a forever home or rescued by an authorized organization.   

 

 

Mutts and Seniors (Plus All Sorts of Breeds)

Unlike traditional pet stores, L.A. Love & Leashes does not focus on breed or age. While dogs and cats of all ages and any number of breeds can be found in city shelters (including purebreds, much to the surprise of many), most of the dogs and cats brought to our adoption center are “mutts” – and all are beautifully unique. It’s also particularly heartwarming when we successfully find loving homes for senior dogs and cats and those with slight imperfections that only serve to

make them rare and wonderful companions.

​

 

A Program of Friends of L.A. Animal Shelters, a Volunteer-Run 501(c)(3) Non-Profit 

L.A. Love & Leashes is a program of Friends of L.A. Animal Services, a volunteer-run non-profit dedicated to helping

Los Angeles Animal Services increase adoptions and raise the save rate for the 50,000+ animals that are taken in

by our city shelters each year.