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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LA Animal Services Media Contacts: 
Agnes Sibal-von Debschitz, (213) 482-9512 or agnes.sibal@lacity.org
Justin Khosrowabadi, (213) 482-9551 or justin.khosrowabadi@lacity.org

LA Animal Services Launches the Citywide Cat Program

To Provide Spay and Neuter Resources

for Free-Roaming Cats

Los Angeles, November 1, 2022 –  LA Animal Services has launched the Citywide Cat Program that provides individuals and community groups with resources to spay and neuter free roaming cats in the the City of Los Angeles. The program includes education and outreach efforts, and trap-neuter-return (TNR), which humanely traps free roaming cats, spays or neuters and vaccinates them, and returns the sterilized, now healthier, cat back to their natural outdoor homeThese sterilized cats will no longer be able to produce litters, causing the number of unowned community stray cats on our streets and backyards to decrease over time. 


“Caring for free-roaming cats, while working to stabilize and reduce their numbers, is one of the most complex issues facing animal shelters today,” said Annette Ramirez, Interim General Manager for LA Animal Services. “Studies have shown that working TNR programs are the most humane and effective way to reduce free roaming cat populations while saving cats’ lives and providing public health benefits.”


Free roaming cats, also known as community cats, are the stray cats who prefer to live outdoors rather than inside homes. Community cats are not socialized or used to being confined and are unlikely to get adopted and may remain as long term shelter guests since many of them are not domesticated.


The Citywide Cat Program allocates funding for the surgical sterilization of 20,000 free-roaming cats annually, which is above those funds already designated for residents’ pets. Through the program:


  • Cats are caught humanely, evaluated by veterinarians, sterilized, vaccinated, and returned to their original location. 
  • The number of cats that a household can adopt or care for increases from three cats to five indoor sterilized cats. 


Prior to the approval and implementation of the Citywide Cat Program, the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was prepared by the City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering to assess the potential environmental impacts that could result from the implementation of the proposed Citywide Cat Program in Los Angeles.


Participation Guidelines


The following are guidelines for individual or community organizations interested in participating the Citywide Cat Program:


  • Go to Citywide Cat Program (CCP)
  • Apply for the program by registering for an Angeleno Account and signing into the Citywide Cat Program Portal.
  • Through your Angeleno Account, you may access key CCP documents from LA Animal Services that include guidelines, rules/regulations: (Citywide, Single Location, Relinquish), and Map of Environmentally Sensitive Areas in Los Angeles, and a cat trapping permit.
  • Review cat trapping videos on how to humanely trap cats:
  • View video in English.
  • View video in Spanish.
  • Make an appointment at participating spay/neuter clinics to sterilize free-roaming community cat.
  • Log into into voucher portal, and receive spay/neuter voucher for free-roaming cat.
  • After the cat has been spayed/neutered, cat is returned to participant, who returns the free-roaming cat back to the location where it was trapped.


For more information about the Citywide Cat Program, visit 

laanimalservices.com/citywide-cat-program.

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LA Animal Services promotes and protects the health, safety, and welfare of animals and the people who love them, and is one of the largest municipal shelter systems in the United States. With six Centers across the City, LA Animal Services serves approximately 60,000 animals annually and responds to 20,000 emergency calls involving animals or people in danger. LA Animal Services is part of the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) international coalition, joining 38 municipal shelters and animal welfare organizations across the country to reimagine and transform the way shelters care for animals and their families, by offering access to resources to help keep families together; getting lost pets home quickly without having to enter the shelter system; providing food and medical assistance; and continuing to build on a strong adoption and foster program so pets find their permanent homes or are placed in foster care. Visit our link.tree for helpful links to the services and resources available to you and your companion animals. Connect with LA Animal Services and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

LA Animal Services | 888-452-7381 | LAAnimalServices.com