Angelenos outraged after shelters reportedly turning away animals due to limited capacity

Angelenos are once again targeting local animal shelters, this time jumping to arms after several reports that animals are being turned away due to limited capacity. 

Standards at Los Angeles animal shelters have already been called into question in recent months, after tales of neglect and understaffing made headlines. 

First reported by The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, animal shelters are now being scrutinized for their alleged failure to take in animals stating that they're already full of animals. 

"Why are employees still turning away cats?" asked Michelle Cornelius, a volunteer with the West Valley Shelter. "Yesterday there was another. Somebody called an eight-week-old kitten they found and they were told unless it was injured to just let it go in the street."

All six city shelters report being overcrowded, with several stories of people being told to look elsewhere. At a hearing on Tuesday, the Board of Animal Services Commissioners heard from volunteers and people working at shelters. 

"After numerous promises by management that this problem would be fixed, it is not. It is quite clear that giving staff any discretion as to which animals to take in does not work," Cornelius said. "The department needs to return to accepting all animals that come to the door."

With nowhere else to turn, people who locate an animal or who can no longer care for their pets are approaching independent adoption centers, creating a nearly unmanageable amount of burden. 

Now, people like Fabienne Origer, the Manager of AGWC Rockin' Rescue in Woodland Hills, are feeling the strain. She reports currently housing 110 dogs and 40 cats.

"It's not just about the animals that we have here, but the requests we get," she said. "If we would literally take everybody, I think we'd probably be four times as busy."

She believes that the main reasons for overcrowding are people who adopted during the pandemic, that can no longer care for the animals due to financial strain or other factors. Additionally, animals aren't be spayed and neutered, meaning inflated rates of reproduction. 

With less than ideal conditions at many of the shelters in the city, Origer says its already hard enough for animals to get adopted. 

"How are these dogs gonna get adopted? They're being left in a kennel for months at a time," she said. 

If she had a say in the matter, she would try to establish some sort of program to allow animals to get spayed or neutered for free, curbing the problem before it can start. 

When approached for comment, Los Angeles Animal Services was unavailable.