220 Florence-Firestone Pets Got Spayed or Neutered Free in Three Days

L.A. County Animal Care and Control ran the clinic with Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell's office and the nonprofit Animal Balance.

Over three days in Florence-Firestone, 220 pets went into surgery and came home spayed or neutered. Their owners didn't pay a dollar, the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control said Monday in a news release that didn't give the clinic's dates.

The price matters because the surgery isn't optional. Spaying or neutering dogs and cats is mandatory in L.A. County, according to the department's spay/neuter voucher program website, and the county's regular help covers only part of the bill.

Residents of unincorporated areas or contract cities can apply for a spay/neuter voucher by uploading a driver's license and a recent utility bill. Whatever the surgery costs beyond the voucher, the owner pays.

This time the work went to Animal Balance, a nonprofit Emma Clifford founded in southern England in 2004. Megan Gram, its operations director, said in the release that it was the group's "first high quality, high volume, MASH style sterilization clinic" with the county. Speed was the model: 220 pets in three days is more than 70 a day.

The release calls Florence-Firestone one of the highest-need parts of South Los Angeles. Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, whose office joined the effort and whom Gram thanked for making the clinic possible, said it was about "removing financial and geographic barriers" to pet care.

Director Marcia Mayeda said easier access means fewer animals end up in the department's seven care centers. The department said it plans to keep working with partners to offer more free and low-cost spay and neuter services.

Animal Balance's own calendar already lists its next Los Angeles clinic for Nov. 6 to 8. The partner is still marked TBD.

Source: Los Angeles County, retrieved October 27, 2026. Other sources: Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control spay/neuter voucher program website, animalbalance.org.