Los Angeles could hand one or more of its six city-run animal shelters to nonprofit operators after the City Council voted 12-0 on Saturday, Aug. 22, to order a feasibility study, a move driven by sharply higher euthanasia numbers and overcrowding.

The vote does not transfer any facility. It directs staff to examine whether outside groups should run one or more shelters now operated by LA Animal Services and how such a transition would work. A second report will address what happens to city employees, including whether workers could be reassigned to shelters that remain under city control.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who first proposed the idea in April, framed the system as overwhelmed.

"We operate one of the nation's largest municipal shelter systems, handling almost 60,000 animals annually," Blumenfield said during the meeting, according to the Westside Current. "Our six shelters are staffed with a limited number of staff, who have to rely on volunteers and end up doing way more than they should, which ends up increasing our liabilities."

The numbers behind the push are stark. Nearly 900 kittens were euthanized from January through June, about 600 more than during the same period in 2025, according to an Aug. 11 Los Angeles Times report cited by City News Service. Euthanasia among cats older than eight weeks rose 32%, with 1,142 killed through June.

City officials have attributed the spike in part to more animals entering the system. Advocates have pushed for more funding for stray-cat capture and sterilization programs.

Before the vote, conditions inside the shelters were already deteriorating. Dogs spent weeks or months in kennels without walks, some housed two or three to a kennel. Volunteers had sued the city over violent animal attacks that resulted in million-dollar settlements.

Blumenfield and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez pointed to the Northeast Valley Animal Care Center in Mission Hills as a template. The city built that shelter with Proposition F bond money and contracted Best Friends Animal Society to operate it in 2011; Paws for Life K9 Rescue later took over the contract. Rodriguez has called the arrangement the "model" for expanding outside-operator contracts.

The council also approved a separate proposal from Councilmember Imelda Padilla to plan for a $240,000 vehicle that would transport shelter animals to adoption fairs and community events. Padilla said the department's limited transportation capacity makes it harder to bring animals to potential adopters. The vehicle would be considered during the fiscal year 2027-28 budget process.

Council members Eunisses Hernandez, John Lee and Hugo Soto-Martinez were absent for the vote. No deadline has been set for when staff must return the feasibility reports to the council.