Every day in Los Angeles, helpless shelter animals are being euthanized solely because of a lack of space. More than 4,100 dogs and cats are killed every day, and about 1.5 million are killed annually in America’s shelters simply because they do not yet have forever homes (https://bestfriends.org/our-work/no-kill-initiatives). Most of these poor creatures have already been victims of abuse and abandonment, and their lives are then abruptly taken from them when shelters continue to be inundated with more animals. These sweet souls are desperately seeking new families to love, however their opportunity to find such a necessary comfort is cut short. It is our job to speak up for animals who don't have a voice of their own. It is our job to use our platforms to spread the word and to shrink this absurdly high number of cruel deaths. And most importantly, it is our job to love those animals whose one wish is to love us back.

The definition of shelter is to protect. However, that is not what we are seeing in many of the Los Angeles animal shelters. By taking preventative measures such as spaying and neutering all pets, donating resources to local shelters, and creating sponsorship programs for homeless animals within the community, we can work to lessen the high volume of animals entering shelters daily. Let’s come together and advocate for no-kill shelters throughout all of Los Angeles. We have come such a long way from a save rate of 57.7% in 2011 to 85.96% in 2017 thanks to incredible and dedicated organizations such as No-Kill Los Angeles, but the journey is not over yet (https://nkla.org/about). If we continue to spread the word and promote no-kill animal shelters in Los Angeles, that save rate will rapidly increase. Don’t just do it for the thousands of abandoned animals anxiously seeking love and companionship, but also do it for the dog you had growing up, and the dog that protected your family for all those years, and the cat you begged for as a child. Do it for all of the loving and loyal animals sitting at the shelter, who are not ready to give up on finding a home that will cherish them.