California alert: More than 1,100 cats euthanized in Los Angeles shelters as overcrowding worsens

Los Angeles’ municipal animal shelters are facing a renewed overcrowding crisis, and the numbers are worsening among the youngest cats. Between January and June 2026, shelters euthanized 1,142 cats older than eight weeks, according to figures reported by the Los Angeles Times. That was 32% more than during the same period in 2025.

The increase was sharper among kittens under one year old. Nearly 900 were euthanized during the six-month period, compared with about 600 a year earlier, a rise of 43%. Across the city’s six municipal shelters, kitten intake increased 30% between 2025 and 2026, while kitten euthanasia rose 177%.

Gabrielle Amster, general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services, told the Times that a significant part of the increase was linked to the mass arrival of kittens in the municipal system. When shelters receive more animals than they can house, care for or place with adoptive or foster families, available capacity becomes a central obstacle.

For years, the city has tried to keep its shelters within the standards associated with no-kill systems. A 90% survival rate is the nationally recognized threshold for that designation, and Amster said Animal Services exceeded it in 2020. But the situation has deteriorated as resources for sterilizing animals have fallen short and larger litters have entered shelters.

Michelson Found Animals says an unsterilized female cat can become pregnant at four months and can have multiple litters a year, with each litter averaging four to eight kittens. Kittens can generally be sterilized once they weigh two pounds, usually at eight weeks. Animal-protection groups argue that increasing adoptions alone will not solve the problem. Christi Metropole of Stray Cat Alliance questioned the availability of municipal resources.

“

A significant part of the increase in euthanasia is related to the massive influx of kittens into the municipal system.