Los Angeles S P C A

Violence prevention humane education programs:spcala aims to support the development of healthy relationships and compassionate communities as one way to prevent animal cruelty and interpersonal violence. The program does this by:*engaging youth and children in empathy-based animal welfare education and social-emotional learning.*encouraging youth advocacy for animals, others, and themselves.*offering violence intervention and support services for adults and families.in fiscal year 2025, spcala extended concepts of empathy and compassion to youth, adults, and children through a host of offerings.teaching love & compassion (tlc) and the court diversion program for youth: tlc is a program for underserved youth that offers a small-group format which combines social-emotional learning with animal welfare lessons and hands-on positive reinforcement training with shelter dogs. Spcala developed tlc over twenty-five years ago and has such significant success with it we now also offer the spcala court diversion program for youth.the diversion program is an animal-assisted intervention program modeled after tlc but specifically made for justice system-involved youth referred by the los angeles county district attorneys' office and other juvenile justice professionals. Spcala offered tlc four times during the year, at middle schools in whittier and long beach, california, reaching 47 students. The diversion program was offered once during the fiscal year, reaching three students.animal safety net (asn):domestic violence survivors will often not leave a situation of abuse if it means they must leave their pets behind. Abusers often threaten, harm, or kill pets to maintain control. Since 1998, the spcala animal safety net (asn) pet housing program has worked to break the cycle of violence by providing safe, temporary housing for the pets of domestic violence survivors. The program has since expanded to others in crisis including those experiencing temporary homelessness, or those entering treatment facilities. In fiscal year 2025, spcala housed 80 asn pets helping 36 families, which included 44 children. The average length of stay for asn pets was 59 days. Out of the 36 clients helped, 18 were domestic violence survivors, 10 were unhoused, and seven were in treatment or recovery, and one was a veteran.additional programming: spcala friends for life summer camp returned, hosting 150 youth over the course of seven, one-week sessions. Additionally, spcala continues to offer pet care patch workshops, online presentations, and other resources for youth and educators.

Animal protection service program (aps):spcala is the only animal welfare agency in the city of los angeles that is also law enforcement. Program areas include: animal cruelty investigations in which spcala humane officers investigate animal cruelty and assist in the prosecution of individuals or organizations who neglect or abuse animals anywhere in the state of california. In fiscal year 2025, aps staff fielded 3,655 calls which resulted in 21 formal complaints. Most complaints were found to have no violation, or were resolved through education, prevention, or referral to another agency. No new criminal cases were submitted for prosecution consideration. Spcala humane officers frequently aid in other law enforcement agencies the execution of search warrants, when animals are known to be present, or animal cruelty is suspected. Non-animal cruelty related warrants include narcotics raids and chop shops, among other crimes. In these cases, spcala humane officers will be attached to the entry team and tasked with the containment and confinement of any dogs on the property. Spcala humane officers served to provide for the safety of both the dogs and the officers on the scene, mitigating the danger of pets and guard dogs being shot by law enforcement, who may be inexperienced in the handling of animals in such situation. In other instances, spcala expertise in investigating animal cruelty is requested, frequently involving blood sports (e.g. Cockfighting, dogfighting).aps also operates spcala's disaster animal response team (dart), in which spcala rescues and provides temporary shelter and front-line veterinary care for animals during emergencies and disasters on a local, national, and international level.this fiscal year, spcala responded to the call for aid following the eaton and palisades fires, quickly mobilizing to accept and care for 62 evacuated pets, including cats, dogs, and a 30-year-old parrot. Additionally, spcala transferred adoptable pets from the pasadena humane society and provided staffing support to them in the wake of the eaton fire. Spcala was also on-call to receive animals from and provide assistance to other mutual aid partners, including los angeles county animal care and control.

Other program services:volunteers provide support to all aspects of spcala programs and services. 565 new and returning volunteers donated a total of 34,118 hours of their time in support of spcala programs and services.pets who needed temporary in-home care (including asn program pets and survivors of animal cruelty) were cared for by foster volunteers, who donated 16,677 hours of their time in fiscal year 2025.in the shelters, volunteers provide invaluable enrichment to shelter pets reducing their stress and making them more desirable to potential adopters. In addition to working with specific types of animals and programs, volunteers assisted in the day-to-day care of shelter animals through cleaning, feeding and grooming, assisted in office activities, did mountains of laundry, and assisted veterinary services.