Spay/Neuter discount coupons! Dog agility demonstrations! Pet product vendor booths! Woohoo!
Los Angeles Animal Services' fancy new Lincoln Heights shelter is having its grand opening tomorrow afternoon and has gotten me all excited. The newly expanded "upscale" shelter has four times the shelter space to accomodate animals, features onsite spay/neuter and veterinary clinics, solar and radiant heating for the animals in cold weather (heated floors!) and outdoor misting in the hot months, and has racked up enough green building points to earn a "Gold" rating by the U.S. Green Building Council in its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. I get all tingly just thinking about it.
Apparently, the North Central Animal Service Center is the first of six facilities that are being paid for by 2000's Proposition F, which I don't remember voting for, but hopefully did. The remaining five will open in the next six months.
The goal with these comparatively luxurious shelters, I think, is not only to be able to temporarily house more animals and care for them humanely and comfortably, but to reduce L.A.'s high euthanasia rate by making the adoption process a more palatable experience for the adopter newbie. More like shopping! The city shelters take in more than 40,000 pets each year, and since we know how packaging and presentation affect consumer perception of product (if you will), perhaps a fancy "shelter pet store" will subconciously encourage more people to take home animals.
Anyway, I really hope it works.
North Central Animal Service Center
3201 Lacy Street
Los Angeles, CA 90031
L.A. Animal Services
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