LA Animal Services Budget: City Council Meeting Today, April 27

How to Speak Up Today and What Still Needs to Be Funded

After our last post, the response made one thing clear: the people of Los Angeles have questions and concerns, and they do not want another round of polished messaging while the basics of humane sheltering remain unstable. Understandable!

Some people asked whether this was all being pushed through without public input. Others said shelters do not just need more staff, they need better staff. Others questioned the newly announced ASPCA and Best Friends initiative in its entirety and argued that national organizations care more about branding, fundraising, and the politics of “no-kill” than about the day-to-day reality inside overcrowded municipal shelters.

Read the budget, get educated, & make a public comment.

Read the budget.

As of April 27, 2026, Council File 26-0600, the City’s FY 2026-27 Budget Proposal, remains pending in the Budget and Finance Committee. The City Clerk’s record shows the hearings were scheduled beginning April 24, with the committee authorized to recess as necessary through May 15, and that the item was recessed and continued to/for April 27, 2026. The Clerk’s public-participation page says people may comment on agenda items at committee or Council meetings, and written comments may be submitted through lacouncilcomment.com. The official LACityClerk YouTube channel lists “Budget Hearings – SAP – 4/27/26” at 3:30 PM. 

You can still make public comments about the proposed budget, and there is a hearing today, April 27th, at 3:30PM PT.

How to Leave a Public Comment

That file is the City’s “Budget Proposal Fiscal Year 2026-27” record, and on the Clerk’s file page there is a Public Comment option right on the record.

Use this method:

1. Go to the Clerk’s public comment portal at lacouncilcomment.com. The Clerk’s own meetings page says that is where written comments for a Council file are submitted.
2. In the search field, enter 26-0600 first. That is the most precise search.
   If that does not come up for some reason, search the title: Budget Proposal Fiscal Year 2026-27.
3. Confirm you are on the right item by checking these details:
   • Council File: 26-0600
   • Title: Budget Proposal Fiscal Year 2026-27
   • Pending in Committee: Budget and Finance Committee
4. Then submit your written comment under that file.

What is happening to the LAAS budget?

What the City is doing in this budget is not fully rebuilding LA Animal Services. It is trimming some parts, adding back a few selected items, and still leaving the department under pressure overall.

The proposed FY 2026-27 budget includes a $1 million “Position and Expense Reductions” item for Animal Services. In other words, the City is still expecting LAAS to absorb a significant cut somewhere in its operations. The budget documents also show additional reductions to expense accounts and so-called “efficiency improvements” in field and shelter operations. Even though there are a few targeted additions, including some money for animal care staffing, veterinary support, and volunteer support, the overall message is not “LAAS is being fully restored.” The message is “LAAS is still being asked to do more with less.”

That is why the medical issue matters so much.

The problem is not just this year’s budget. The problem is that medical care appears to have been underfunded for years. According to the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates addendum, LAAS’s medical-supplies budget used to sit at $488,591. It was then cut to $388,591, briefly restored, and then cut again and left there. LAAS asked to return to the old $488,591 level for FY 2026-27, but even that would not really be enough in today’s dollars. The addendum says that if this line had simply kept up with inflation, it would now need to be a little over $670,000.

That means the fight is not over a luxury increase. It is over whether LAAS can even get back to an older funding level that already did not account for rising costs.

The same addendum says LAAS has had to use more than $744,000 in Animal Welfare Trust Fund donations since FY 2019-20 just to cover medical-supply needs. That is a major red flag. Donations are supposed to help expand care, improve services, or support special projects. They should not have to function as a backup plan for basic medical necessities.

The food issue tells the same story. The Budget Advocates say LAAS’s food budget has also been underfunded for years. They say the City gave LAAS only $200,000 for food in FY 2025-26, which did not even cover five months, and that the department had to keep relying on donations to fill the gap. LAAS requested $400,000 for FY 2026-27, which shows how far off the prior number was from actual need.

So when we talk about medicine and food, we are not talking about extras. We are talking about the most basic level of care animals need in order to stay healthy, recover from illness, cope with shelter stress, and remain adoptable.

That is why this should not be framed like a one-time budget dispute or a confusing accounting issue. The larger pattern is that LAAS has repeatedly had to rely on donations to cover core care. That suggests a chronic underfunding problem, not a temporary hiccup.

The same concern applies to enrichment. The Budget Advocates urged the City to continue full funding for Dogs Playing for Life, describing it as essential for enrichment, exercise, and adoptability. A City Clerk search result for the department’s FY 2026-27 budget memo states that the proposed budget includes no funding to continue LAAS’s canine-enrichment agreement with DPFL.

People are also reacting to the ASPCA and Best Friends announcement, and that deserves careful wording, too.

What the current public record supports is this: LA Animal Services announced a joint, multi-year $14 million funding and operational support initiative with the ASPCA and Best Friends. LAAS says the initiative is designed to prevent unnecessary intake, improve in-shelter care and operational efficiency, and increase positive outcomes such as adoption, fostering, and reunification. LAAS also says the proposal includes $7 million in grant funding for more than 20 critical staffing roles, plus four embedded staff members to support training, implementation, and animal health and safety. The LAAS FAQ says this is not a takeover and describes it as a combination of funding and expertise meant to strengthen the City’s system from within.

That does not mean every criticism people have about Best Friends or the broader “no-kill” movement is irrational. It does mean the debate should be accurate.

Best Friends’ own page says “no-kill” does not mean zero euthanasia. It uses a 90% save-rate benchmark and says shelters meeting that benchmark are considered no-kill under that framework. That is exactly why the term causes so much confusion and backlash: people hear “no-kill” and understandably assume it means no animals are euthanized. That is not how Best Friends defines it. 

But whatever anyone thinks about the branding, the material question before the City right now remains concrete…

Will Los Angeles fully fund the basics or not?

Will it fully fund medicine or not?

Will it stop relying on donations to cover food and medical supplies or not?

Will it protect enrichment programs that keep dogs behaviorally viable or not?

Will it fund prevention at the level needed to reduce intake pressure before animals ever enter the shelters or not?

On that front, the case for stronger prevention is well supported.

The Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates recommend approving the full $31,869,100 LAAS operational request with no cuts, while also adding $4 million above the requested amount for the Animal Sterilization Fund and $1 million above the requested amount for the Citywide Cat Program.

The same report says the total requested FY 2026-27 budget, including non-departmental spay/neuter funding, is $39,785,296, with $7,916,196 requested for spay/neuter.

LA Animal Services’ own Citywide Cat Program page says it allocates funding for at least 20,000 community cat sterilizations annually, in a separate account from the funds designated for residents’ owned pets.

That is what people should be pressing the City on now.

Fund shelter medicine.
Fund food.
Fund staffing.
Fund spay/neuter.
Fund the Citywide Cat Program.

How to leave public comment

Submit written comment on Council File 26-0600 through lacouncilcomment.com. The Clerk’s public-participation page directs the public to submit written comments. The same page states that agenda-item comments may be made at committee or Council meetings, and that if a committee does not hear public comment on an item, an opportunity will be provided during the Council meeting. (clerk.lacity.gov)

Sample written comment

Please protect and fully fund Los Angeles Animal Services in the FY 2026-27 budget.

I urge the City to approve the full LAAS operational request of $31,869,100 with no cuts and to protect the core lines that directly affect animal welfare and public safety. Shelter medicine, medical supplies, food, enrichment, and adequate staffing are not optional. LAAS has already faced chronic underfunding, and donations should not be used to backfill basic medical and food costs year after year.

I am especially asking the City to protect funding for veterinary and medical care, food, and shelter for sheltered animals, while also strengthening prevention through spay/neuter funding and the Citywide Cat Program.

A new general manager and outside partnership do not replace the City’s responsibility to fund humane sheltering. Please do not balance this budget on the backs of sheltered animals. Fund the basics. Protect prevention. Give LAAS the resources it needs to care for animals humanely and safely.

Sources

• City Clerk Council File 26-0600, Budget Proposal Fiscal Year 2026-27, including current status and action history.
• Office of the City Clerk, Council and Committee Meetings page, including public comment and written comment instructions.
• Official City Clerk calendar landing page.
• Official LACityClerk YouTube channel listing for today’s budget hearings stream.
• Mayor Karen Bass appointment announcement for Gabrielle Amster.
• LA Animal Services press release on the ASPCA and Best Friends $14 million initiative.
• LA Animal Services partnership FAQ page.
• FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Supporting Information, including Animal Services reductions and adds.
• Department of Animal Services budget memo snippet on no proposed funding to continue Dogs Playing for Life.
• Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates report and addendum on LAAS operational funding, DPFL, medical supplies, food, and spay/neuter.
• LA Animal Services Citywide Cat Program page.
• Best Friends definitions of “no-kill” and the 90% benchmark.