PetSmart Charities pledges $13.8 million for spay/neuter clinics
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Just a reminder:
PetSmart Charities has pledged to donate up to $13.8 million to help create seven new spay and neuter clinics in Los Angeles, which city officials say will help reduce the number of dogs and cats that end up in the city’s animal shelters.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, pictured on the day he signed the city’s spay/neuter ordinance into law, made the announcement this morning while cuddling a fidgety black-and-brown Chihuahua in his arms in front of a bank of television news cameras (‘I just wanted to clarify: This is not a Beverly Hills Chihuahua. This is an East L.A. Chihuahua,’ the mayor said before planting a kiss on the pooch’s head.)
More than 50,000 dogs and cats wound up in city animal shelters last year, and 15,000 of those were euthanized. As of Oct. 1, the city requires that all cats and dogs in the city over the age of 4 months be spayed or neutered, with some limited exemptions.
Along with the PetSmart donation, the Found Animal Foundation donated $1 million to the city for the spay and neuter program. Villaraigosa said the donations help put L.A. on the path to becoming a ‘no kill’ city at its animal shelters.
--Phil Willon
