The 2028 Olympic Games Are Coming for LA’s Most Vulnerable
Shelter animals, fragile ecosystems, and struggling communities will pay the price for two weeks of global spectacle.
A City in Crisis, Not Celebration
As Los Angeles barrels toward hosting the 2028 Olympic Games, we’re being sold a vision of global celebration—shimmering stadiums, world-class athletes, civic pride on a global stage. But behind the banners lies a more sobering reality: LA is unraveling.
Our animal shelter system is in crisis. Our environment is fraying. Our most vulnerable communities are already being left behind. Unless we confront these failures now, the Olympic dream will be built on a crumbling foundation—and animals, people, and ecosystems will pay the price.
The 1984 Olympics: A Cautionary Tale
This isn’t LA’s first Olympic rodeo. The city hosted in 1932 and again in 1984—Games often celebrated for their efficiency and financial restraint. But even those so-called success stories came with costs: displacement of low-income residents, promises of lasting infrastructure that never fully materialized, and a city left scrambling to clean up after the spectacle faded.
The 1984 Games are often praised for their “efficiency,” built on existing venues—but even those gains were shallow. The only new public facilities—a swim stadium, shooting range, velodrome—saw limited long-term community use. What’s more, that success came at a cost: homelessness was criminalized, dozens of “gang sweeps” targeted low-income neighborhoods, and Black‑owned businesses were shut out entirely. Today, the stakes are exponentially higher.
A System on the Brink
We are not the city we were in 1984. LA is now reeling from record-breaking wildfires, historic drought, a billion-dollar budget shortfall, and a shelter system buckling under the weight of abandoned and surrendered animals. LA Animal Services is so underfunded that even basic humane care is slipping out of reach. Kennels are overflowing. Staff are overwhelmed. And mass euthanasia—once unthinkable—is now a looming reality.
A Pattern of Cruelty on the World Stage
History offers grim precedent. In city after city—Athens, Sochi, Rio, Beijing—Olympic “clean-up” campaigns have meant the systematic culling of stray animals. These weren't anomalies; they were policy. Thousands of dogs were killed—not for public health, but for public image. If LA doesn’t plan differently, it risks becoming the next chapter in this shameful pattern.
And what will the world see? They’ll see pristine arenas, elite horses pampered for Olympic equestrian events at Santa Anita Park—just miles from LA’s overcrowded animal shelters, where adoptable pets are crammed into cages or euthanized for space. This isn’t just hypocrisy. It’s a moral crisis hiding in plain sight. And animals aren’t the only ones at risk. The city’s ecosystems are unraveling, too.
Environmental Collapse in the Shadow of the Rings
LA’s fragile air quality, dwindling water supply, and shrinking green spaces are already at a breaking point. The region has failed 25 years of ozone pollution grades, smog remains among the worst nationwide. Recent wildfires not only choked the air—they drained hydrants and contaminated drinking water, triggering citywide advisories in early 2025. Meanwhile, many communities have less than 1 acre of parkland per 1,000 people, well below national standards—and despite city pleas for more, green space remains stagnant.
Hosting the Olympics means more construction, more traffic, more stress on a region already grappling with climate breakdown. Wildlife habitats will be paved over. Pollution will spike. Resources meant for long-term survival will be consumed by a two-week spectacle.
The Legacy Lie
And what of the human toll? The promise of an Olympic “legacy” rings hollow when thousands remain unhoused and underserved. When public safety, environmental restoration, and animal welfare are underfunded or collapsing, can we justify pouring billions into temporary stadiums and ceremonial fireworks?
The Call to Lead—Or the Shame of Silence
This is not a call to cancel the Games. It’s a call to confront their cost. To demand transparency from Olympic planners and accountability from City Hall. To insist that animal protection, environmental health, and community well-being are not sidelined in pursuit of international prestige.
If we can't protect our shelters, our ecosystems, or our most marginalized residents while hosting a global event, then we are not ready to host. Civic pride means nothing if built on suffering. Progress means nothing if measured only in medals.
The Olympics should reflect our highest ideals. But those ideals are meaningless if we abandon the vulnerable in pursuit of glory. Los Angeles still has time to choose a different legacy—one of compassion, resilience, and true progress. But the window is closing.
Let us act now—before the torch is lit.
Call to Action
If Los Angeles is to host the 2028 Olympics with integrity, Angelenos must speak up—loudly and now. Contact Mayor Karen Bass, your City Council member, and the LA28 Organizing Committee. Demand transparency on how Olympic plans will protect animals, preserve our fragile environment, and uplift—not endanger—vulnerable communities.
Call on the Animal Services Commission to hold firm against pressure to sanitize the city at the cost of innocent lives. Urge LA’s Chief Sustainability Officer and City Council President to ensure this Olympic legacy is humane, just, and future-focused.
If we stay silent, 2028 won’t be a triumph. It will be a tragedy—and it will bear our name.
References:
Examining the LA 1984 Olympic Legacy: Capitalism, Police Violence, & Privatization
Olympic transformation of metropolitan cities—for better or for worse
Ed Boks is a former Executive Director of the New York City, City of Los Angeles, and Maricopa County Animal Care & Control Departments, and a former Board Director of the National Animal Control Association. His work has been published in the LA Times, New York Times, Newsweek, Real Clear Policy, Sentient Media, and now on Animal Politics with Ed Boks.
Stay Informed
For more analysis and updates on the evolving landscape of animal welfare policy, visit Animal Politics with Ed Boks.
There, once again, you see clearly what most people never think of. Thank you.
When I read this newsletter, it took me back to having been in LA for the 1984 Games. Today I realize that hosting the world translates to slaughtering the most vulnerable. Locations like LA's Skid Row will be prime "clean up targets". Very disturbing ... the ghosts of the LA fires and the continued incompetency of Mayor Bass will not have gone away by 2028.