Los Angeles, May 10, 2023 – LA Animal Services will be hosting a Playgroup Rockstars Adoption Event at the Chesterfield Square/South LA shelter and the East Valley shelter this Saturday, May 13 from 10am to 4pm. Meet adoptable dogs who are ready for their new homes, and watch them run and play in the yards showing adopters their amazing personalities and skills! To encourage adoptions around the country, national nonprofit organization Petco Love joins Dogs Playing for Life and BOBS from Skechers launching a National Playgroup Rockstars Adoption event at more than 30 shelters around the country to show off the social, adoptable dogs in a fun and playful environment.

These playgroup rockstars are the dogs who have been participating in the enrichment program led by Dogs Playing for Life (DPFL), which launched September 2022 at the Chesterfield Field Square/South LA shelter thanks to a partnership with Wallis Annenberg PetSpace. DPFL is one of the nation’s most respected and progressive dog behavior programs in the nation, with a mission to enhance the quality of life of shelter dogs to increase life-saving. DPFL has proven metrics on the life-saving benefits of “playgroups” for kenneled animals, and on the methods for training staff and volunteers in establishing and conducting these ongoing enrichment activities.

“We are so excited to be joining forces with 30 other shelters across the country for the Playgroup Rock Stars adoption event,” said Annette Ramirez, Interim General Manager for LA Animal Services. “We continue to see an increase in animal intake in our shelters, especially dogs, and our goal with these events is to give these amazing animals in our Centers an opportunity to showcase their personalities outside their kennels, giving them a better chance of finding a home.”

To encourage pet adoptions of these playgroup rock stars, LA Animal Services will be offering waived adoption fees for our dogs (over four months) at all six of our LA Animal Services Centers on Saturday, May 13. Puppies are excluded from this adoption event with adoption fees for puppies being $150. Adopters who adopt play pairs (two playgroup dogs adopted together), will receive a $100 Petco gift card! Our six locations are open on the weekends with no appointments needed, from 11am to 5pm. For this special adoption event, our Chesterfield Square/South LA Center and East Valley Center will be open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, May 13. Our other four LA Animal Services Centers: Harbor, North Central, West LA, and West Valley will be open from 11am to 5pm. 

Dogs and cats adopted from LA Animal Services join their new families already spayed or neutered, vaccinated, licensed, and microchipped, and adopters receive a VCA Healthy Start Certificate, which provides up to $250 of follow up veterinary care within the first 14 days of adoption. In addition, canine companions adopted from LA Animal Services are also eligible for free dog training classes at the Paws for Life K9 Rescue People & Pet Innovation Center in Mission Hills, CA. Contact Info@pawsforlifek9.org for more details.

Can’t Adopt - You Can Still Help 

• Shelter-at-Home provides temporary shelter for lost pets in your neighborhood while posting flyers or posting the pet’s info on social media, e.g. Petco Love Lost, Nextdoor, LA Animal Services Lost and Found Facebook page, Pawboost.
• Home-to-Home is a resource to help pet owners find a new home for their furry friend without taking them to a shelter.
• Donate and make a difference to help pets in LA.
• Be a part of our Share Squad and help get the word out to help LA animals find homes and create more awareness on how to keep animals safe and healthy.
• Share posts of pets available for adoption on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Nextdoor.
• Volunteer and make a difference in the lives of animals in our care.

Center Operating Hours

Our six LA Animal Services locations are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8am to 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays, from 11am to 5pm. Appointments are required on Wednesdays and Fridays, for pet adoptions, fostering, and owner surrenders, with our Centers closed on Mondays. Sick or injured animals will be admitted without an appointment. Appointments may be scheduled by going online or by calling 1-888-452-7381. Please note for the Playgroup Rockstars Adoption event on Saturday, May 13, the Chesterfield Square/South LA Animal Services Center and East Valley Animal Services Center will be open from 10am to 4pm. Our other four LA Animal Services Centers: Harbor, North Central, West LA, and West Valley will be open from 11am to 5pm.

For more information about LA Animal Services, visit laanimalservices.com. 

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LA Animal Services promotes and protects the health, safety, and welfare of animals and the people who love them, and is one of the largest municipal shelter systems in the United States. With six Centers across the City, LA Animal Services serves approximately 60,000 animals annually and responds to 20,000 emergency calls involving animals or people in danger. LA Animal Services is part of the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) international coalition, joining 38 municipal shelters and animal welfare organizations across the country to reimagine and transform the way shelters care for animals and their families, by offering access to resources to help keep families together; getting lost pets home quickly without having to enter the shelter system; providing food and medical assistance; and continuing to build on a strong adoption and foster program so pets find their permanent homes or are placed in foster care. Visit our link.tree for helpful links to the services and resources available to you and your companion animals. Connect with LA Animal Services and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

​Founded in 2015, Dogs Playing for Life has been redefining the meaning and importance of quality of life for all sheltered dogs by improving their experience through playgroups and individualized training, resulting in urgent and responsible lifesaving. Since inception, DPFL has introduced playgroups to 329 shelters and counting, who realize an average 6% increase in lifesaving and 38% decrease in length of stay for dogs. Shelters frequently describe DPFL programming as "game changing," "transformational," and "the most important thing to happen for shelter dogs." To find out more, visit www.dogsplayingforlife.org.

Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing $330 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.