More than 1,000 toys and treats for dogs in City shelters to be donated ensuring our four-legged friends enjoy some holiday cheer

Los Angeles, December 12, 2025 - This holiday season, LA Animal Services is encouraging the gift of giving by launching the Operation Santa Paws campaign with the Karen Cooper Foundation. The Operation Santa Paws campaign asks our animal-loving community to donate essential supplies, like linens, martingales, collars, leashes, and toys, or select items to directly donate to a specific shelter from our Wish Lists filled with highly-requested items that support our shelter initiatives and programs, like kitten fostering and the Pet Food Pantry!  

To help make the season extra merry and bright for the pets in our shelters, the Karen Cooper Foundation will be delivering 21 Santa sacks filled with enough dog toys and treats for the more than 1,000 canine buddies across our six LA City shelters on Friday, December 12 – ensuring some holiday cheer for the dogs in our Centers. This is the first year that the San Diego-based organization has extended their holiday outreach into Los Angeles.

"We are grateful to the Karen Cooper Foundation for choosing LA Animal Services and our North Central shelter as their first stop in the City of Los Angeles," said Annette Ramirez, Interim General Manager for LA Animal Services. "This generous donation of dog toys also highlights the more than 1,500 dogs, cats, rabbits, and small animals in our six shelters that are available to be adopted and ready to be a part of loving homes this holiday season."

“Bringing joy to shelter dogs and creating more awareness to get pets in shelters adopted are at the core of our mission,” said Bob Cooper, President of The Karen Cooper Foundation. “We want to thank LA Animal Services for coordinating our delivery, and for all they do for the animals in the City with nowhere else to go.”

More Ways to Help Shelter Animals

• Adopt - Give a pet another chance to be part of a loving home. Furry friends adopted from LA Animal Services join their new families already spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and licensed. Our six shelters are filled with amazing dogs, puppies, cats, kittens, rabbits and other small animals ready for loving homes.
• Foster - Create life saving space in our shelter for a sick, lost, or injured animal with nowhere else to go and open your heart and home temporarily. Fostering provides shelter pets with a break from kennel life and provides additional enrichment and networking that helps them on their journey to be adopted.
• Volunteer - Sign up to work with staff to assist animals in our care.
• Donate - When you donate, your support provides extra care for animals in our shelters, helps keep pets and families together, and prevents suffering for animals big and small.
• Spay or neuter your pet or stray cats in your community. Ensuring animals are fixed helps to prevent pet overpopulation. LA Animal Services offers spay/neuter vouchers online for owned pets and cats in our community.

For more information on the Karen Cooper Foundation, please visit their website at karencooperfoundation.org. 

Learn how you can make a difference and provide support to animals in our care by clicking  here. To view our wish lists, please visit laanimalservices.com/wishlist.