Coming soon: New homes for pets in L.A.

The Best Friends Super Adoption is returning this fall! One of Los Angeles’ longest-running animal welfare traditions — showcasing superstar dogs and cats just waiting to be discovered for the role of your new best friend — will be revived the weekend of November 4-5 at Los Angeles State Historic Park.

The super adoption was a 20-year fixture from 1999 through 2019 before taking a break during the COVID-19 pandemic. Best Friends is bringing it back to refocus the community on the importance of pet adoption in saving the lives of homeless pets. Last year around 378,000 dogs and cats were killed in shelters because they didn’t have safe places to call home.

Best Friends’ goal is to support shelters across the country in reaching no-kill by 2025, and the super adoption event in L.A. is just one of the ways to do it. Around 25 animal welfare organizations will be there with pets available for adoption. The goal is to find homes for as many as 1,000 pets at the event.

Marc Peralta, chief program officer at Best Friends Animal Society, says that since 2022 and continuing into 2023, pet adoptions have not been keeping up with the number of animals entering shelters across the country.

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“Shelters are bottlenecking with animals in (their) care because we are actually adopting fewer animals year over year,” says Marc. “And while the pandemic brought new learnings to animal welfare, it also prevented us from doing things that were working really well to help increase lifesaving — large events such as super adoptions.”

Annie Thompson, Best Friend’s national events director, says: “The Best Friends Super Adoption brings the animal welfare community and community members together in a festival atmosphere where people can meet incredible pets and find their new best friend. Every adoption is celebrated, and we want to make every adopter feel like a superstar for saving the life of a homeless pet.”

In addition to dozens of animal welfare organizations bringing adoptable pets to the free, family-friendly event, it will also feature a local business marketplace, food vendors, and celebrity appearances. Pet lovers attending the event can also learn about opportunities to become more involved in the extensive lifesaving work that’s happening across Los Angeles.

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“I know that so many people out there, if given the opportunity, will choose to adopt from a shelter or rescue group,” says Marc. “But we at Best Friends have to do our part to utilize things that have helped pet adoption in the past, such as holding events such as super adoptions. Let’s celebrate lifesaving in a big way as we march toward bringing the country to no-kill by 2025 with this longstanding event and its rich history.”

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day at Los Angeles State Historic Park, located in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles at 1245 N. Spring St.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill by 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.