LOS ANGELES, June 21, 2024 – The 4th of July holiday and the days that follow are the busiest times for LA Animal Services Centers. The loud noises and bright lights caused by fireworks frighten pets causing them to escape their homes and end up in City shelters. To ensure there is life saving space in our shelters, LA Animal Services is offering the following lifesaving ways so lost pets are reunited with their families, animals in our shelters may be adopted or fostered, and pets at home stay safe 

Free Microchipping for Pets

More pets are lost between July 4 through 6. To ensure lost pets are reunited with their families, LA Animal Services will be offering free microchips for pets, starting June 22 through July 3 thanks to our friends from Petco Love (while supplies last). You can visit any of the six LA Animal Services Centers for more information about the importance of microchipping your pet. 

Red, White, and Woof Adoption Days

To encourage pet adoptions, LA Animal Services will be offering reduced adoption fees for dogs and cats, starting Tuesday, June 25 through Wednesday, July 3. Adoption fees for dogs are $51, excluding the $20 license fee; puppies $75; cats: $12.50; and kittens $25.

4 Weeks For Life Fostering

LA Animal Services is encouraging Angelenos to foster a pet in preparation for a busy 4th of July holiday weekend during our Four Weeks for Life event. Four weeks allows our shelter pets to get a much needed break from kennel life, and creates life saving space for the lost, sick, frightened, and abandoned animals who make their way into our Centers. Four weeks ensures that our pets out on foster have a safe space to return to if not adopted. 

To become a foster pet parent, please complete this application and send it to ani.foster@lacity.org. LA Animal Services will provide you with the items you need, from a bed, crate, and toys, to ensure a happy and comfy sleepover for your canine foster companion.

How to Keep Pets Safe this 4th of July

LA Animal Services reminds pet owners that they can prevent heartache and anxiety by following a few simple suggestions:

• Ensure your pet has an up-to-date ID. Ensure your dog, cat, or rabbit has a microchip with your current contact information and your canine and feline friend is wearing a collar or harness with a current license and/or ID tag. For information on getting or renewing your dog’s license, visit: laanimalservices.com/laws-policies/animal-licenses.

If your pet is not microchipped, visit any of our six LA Animal Services Centers during business hours to have your companion animal microchipped. Most veterinary clinics also offer microchipping!

• Stay away from fireworks. Fireworks are illegal in the City of Los Angeles. You can prevent potential burns, injuries, or possible ingestion by keeping all pets out of the vicinity of fireworks and asking friends and neighbors to avoid using them. Even if your pet does not seem obviously upset by fireworks, they can still cause harm to pets. 

To report fireworks in your neighborhood, you may call LAPD’s non-emergency number at 877-275-5273 or file a complaint online.

• No festive foods for pets. Avoid the urge to feed your pets table scraps or other foods intended for people. Be especially careful to keep them away from common foods that are potentially toxic to pets, like onions, chocolate, coffee, avocado, grapes, raisins, salt, and yeast dough.

• Keep pets indoors and create a calm environment. The best way to keep your pets safe is to make sure they stay indoors and in an enclosed room, if possible. If you allow your dog outside, be sure that your gates or fence are secure or that your pet stays on a leash. 

If hosting a gathering with friends, try creating a safe place in your home where your pet can have some quiet space away from your company like a room that is off-limits to guests, or a familiar crate with their favorite toys or comforting blanket. For bunnies, provide extra places for them to hide within their living spaces (like an extra hidey hole). You can also play calm and soothing music and keep the room as quiet as possible. In addition, closing doors, windows, and blinds will also help to distract pets from the sounds of fireworks.  

• Look for your lost pet right away. According to an ASPCA survey, about half of missing dogs and a third of missing cats were found by searching their local neighborhoods. 

We encourage people who have lost their dog or cat to post a photo and description of the pet on Petco Love Lost, LA City Lost and Found Pets, Nextdoor.com, or Pawboost.com, to improve the chances of reuniting with their companion animals. 

In addition to using social media, LA Animal Services also suggests that individuals who are able to do so, provide temporary home care for lost or stray companion animals in their neighborhood through our Shelter-at-Home program. Shelter-at-Home expands LA Animal Services’ foster program and increases community involvement in helping animals find their owners while enabling pets to be held in less stressful environments. 

If the pet appears sick or injured, please bring them to the closest Animal Services Center immediately. DO NOT LEAVE the dog or cat in an unsafe place. 

4th of July Horse Safety

Fireworks and the 4th of July celebrations may also frighten and cause injury to horses. It is estimated that around 60 percent of all animals become distressed by the loud noises and streaking lights of fireworks, and horses are no exception being outdoors. 

To keep your equine friends safe, here are some key tips:

• Consider moving your horse indoors for the evening if a fireworks display is due to take place in a location adjacent to where your horse grazes.

• If you will be leaving your horse outside, make sure all fencing and gates are secure.

• If you decide to stable your horse make sure they have a thick bed with high banks and that there is nothing obvious on which they could injure themselves.

• Give your horse plenty of hay to keep him/her occupied

• Play music or leave a radio on to muffle the sounds of fireworks and help to keep your horse calm.

• Ear covers can help to reduce the noise.



• After a fireworks event has taken place, check your fields/arena for spent fireworks as these could cause injury if ingested.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram as we post reminders to keep these pet safety tips top of mind and safety tips or visit our 4th of July Pet Safety Page.

LA Animal Services Centers will be closed on Thursday, July 4, 2024 to observe the 4th of July holiday. 

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