Actress Pledges A Million Dollars for L.A. Animals

Actress Katherine Heigl has pledged one million dollars for a project addressing pet overpopulation in the Los Angeles area. 50,000 of 80,000 shelter animals in Los Angeles County were euthanized last year according to her foundation. (Source: People.com)

She noted that it is not only old pets that are being euthanized; young and healthy animals are being put down also. Her foundation is working with the City and County of Los Angeles and the Cesar Millan Foundation to educate the public about the importance of spaying and neutering animals.

The press release for the collaborative project called Compassion Revolution says, “The pet population crisis is a serious one, and the approach to addressing the problem must be equally serious and all-encompassing. The most practical and immediate means of tackling this crisis is through spay/neuter programs that are accessible and affordable to all pet owners, along with providing the necessary tools to promote responsible pet ownership, including information and training.”

She attributes her commitment to spaying and neutering to her family upbringing, which emphasized the practice. She said, “They have no idea that a litter of 10 means a litter of, like, 400 in the future. We can tell them and educate them, and provide a way for them to spay and neuter their pets.” (Source: People.com)

The project will donate funds to specific animal shelters in the L.A. area that spay and neuter pets for free or for low fees. Spay4LA will receive 100,000 dollars for their full-time mobile spay-and-neuter clinic traveling throughout the city. The goal for the mobile clinic is to sterilize 5,000 animals yearly.

The Spay4LA website emphasizes the importance of spaying and neutering with various statistics such as, “One female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats in 7 years.” Several other shelters will also receive donations for working on the pet overpopulation problem.

Image Credit: Compassion Revolution

Read more: Pets, katherine heigl, spay and neuter pets

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Teresa C.

10:54PM PDT on Apr 7, 2012

That's really using your head!! America needs a good free/low cost spay/neuter program nationwide! I wish more of the wealthy would do this!
Kudos to Ms. Heigl!

send a green star

Sarah L.

10:49PM PDT on Mar 21, 2012

It's good for her but we should all give credits to our selves too. We pay what we can afford. For what we want to help and love. It's not about how rich you are and how big you give to these places. Just because they are famous and stuff. We are not famous and what we give what we can makes a lot more difference in my eyes.

tetyana p.

5:56AM PST on Feb 2, 2012

God bless you, Katherine Heigl!

Shirley S.

8:00PM PST on Jan 30, 2012

Another reason to LIKE Katherine Heigl. She is GREAT!

Julia R.

3:36PM PST on Jan 30, 2012

Thank you so much Katherine Heigl for your compassionate gift in making such a difference for the lives of so many animals! I'm so glad to see that your foundation is working with the City and County of Los Angeles in recognizing the importance of educating the public about the importance of spaying and neutering animals. This is the only way to really make a difference in preventing the tragic consequences of surplus pets who end up being the casualties of their owner's ignorance and far too often, society's indifference.

Mary E.

2:58PM PST on Jan 30, 2012

Hooray for another celebrity using their money in a positive way!

Erin C.

1:33PM PST on Jan 30, 2012

Hurray for Katherine! She has the influence to make a difference and she takes advantage of that opportunity. We could use more people like her!

Ragavan M.

8:42AM PST on Jan 30, 2012

good think..

Rooibos B.

7:51AM PST on Jan 30, 2012

That's good to hear, if only everyone were that generous!