Category: animal control

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New Hope Program expands; becomes more inclusive by Ed Boks

Over 75 organizations have already signed up as New Hope Partners to help LA Animal Services save lives and make LA the first major no-kill city in the United States.

Each day, New Hope Partners receive an email list of all the animals they can rescue at no cost to them. This includes free spay/neuter surgery, a microchip, vaccinations, and some times additional medical treatment. Absorbing these costs demonstrates Animal Services’ commitment to the life saving efforts of our partners by allowing them to maximize their limited resources to care for the animals they take from our Animal Care Centers.

The New Hope Alert is now available on-line for all to see. Now our New Hope Partners and members of the public can see for themselves the animals on our New Hope Alert every day. And this list is updated EVERY HOUR, 24 hours a day! 

The New Hope Alert is not a euthanasia list. It is simply a list of animals that our New Hope Partners can take at no charge. However, if the animal on the New Hope Alert has red font, it is at greater risk of being euthanized and it is our hope that our Partners will prioritize their life saving decisions to help these animals first.

The purpose of posting this information on our website is to save lives. With transparency comes vulnerability. The more information Animal Services shares the easier we can be made into a target by people not willing to help save lives but whose only intent is spreading discontent and strife that ironically slows the effort to end the killing.

Please use this tool responsibly. We share it with the community because we trust in the better angels of Angelinos to do the right thing. Please work with us to save lives.

If you would like to view our New Hope Alert daily you can view it at: http://www.laanimalservices.com/NewHope.htm

LA Animal Services does not yet have a New Hope Program for rabbits, but in the meantime if you would like to view the rabbits we have up for adoption you can go to: http://www.laanimalservices.com/Bunny_Brigade.htm

Together we can make LA the safest City in the United States for our pets. Thank you for your continued support!

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05/06 Fiscal Year and July 06 Report by Ed Boks

The following is an excerpt from the July GM Report to the LA Animal Services Commission. To read the entire report, visit www.lanimalservices.com and click on GM Reports.

The following information is for the month of July, the first month of the new fiscal year.

Dog and Cat Statistics For 2006 calendar year to date:
· Dog and cat adoptions are up 5% (7752 to 8151);
· New Hope placements are down 19% (4359 to 3598);
· Return to Owners is down 10% (2870 to 2582);
· Dogs and cats placed in Foster Homes are up 203% (75 to 227);
· Dogs and cats euthanized is down 8.5% (11,439 to 10465); and
· The number of dogs and cats taken in by Animal Services is down 5% (27958 to 26587).

If this trend continues Animal Services is on track to euthanize fewer than 18,000 dogs and cats in 2006. This would be an all time low for the City of Los Angeles. But this will be a challenge requiring all our friends, volunteers, and partners to help us get the word out the LA Animal Services is “the” adoption center of choice in Los Angeles and that all pets need to be spayed or neutered and licensed or microchipped.

Dog and Cats Statistics for July 06
· Dog and cat adoptions were roughly equal to July 05 (1366 to 1330):
· New Hope placements were down 19% (591 to 477);
· Return to Owners were up 2.25% (488 to 499);
· Dogs and cats in Foster Homes was up 957% (7 to 74);
· Dogs and cats euthanized was up 4% (2496 to 2593); and
· The number of dogs and cats taken in by Animal Services was up 6.5% (5097 to 5425).

Dog Statistics for July 06:
· Dog adoptions were roughly equal to dog adoptions in July 05 (832 to 826);
· New Hope placements for dogs were up 5% (318 to 333);
· Returns to Owners for dogs were equal to July 05 (466 to 465);
· Dogs placed in Foster Homes were up from 0 to 28;
· Dogs euthanized were up 16% (741 to 863);
· 37% of the dogs euthanized were pit bulls or pit bull mixes (320);
· 45 were orphaned neonates (5%);
· The number of dogs taken in by Animal Services was up 13% (2456 to 2779);
· 22% of the dogs taken in were pit bulls or pit bull mixes (613); and
· 33% were owner relinquished (922).

Cat Statistics for July 06:
· Cat adoptions were down 5.6% (534 to 504);
· New Hope placements for cats were down 47% (273 to 144);
· Return to owners were up 54% (22 to 34);
· Cats placed in Foster Homes was up 557% (7 to 46);
· Cats euthanized were down 1.5% (1755 to 1730);
· The number of orphaned neonate kittens euthanized was down 4% (939 to 903) but this number represented 53% of all cats euthanized; and
· The number of cats taken in by Animal Services was roughly equal (2641 to 2646); and
· 22% were owner relinquished.

37% of all dogs and 55% of all cats euthanized were pit bulls and orphaned neonate cats respectively. This data clearly demonstrates where our limited resources must be focused. LA Animal Services will be announcing more programs to address these critical areas soon. 

All Animal Services actual numbers and statistics are available on line for the past five years at www.laanimalservices.com Click on Statistics to see break down by dogs, cats, rabbits and others.

Top 10 Reasons for Cat Relinquishment in July:
1. Owner felt they had too many cats.
2. Landlord/zoning problems.
3. Owner was moving.
4. No time for the cat.
5. Family member allergic to the cat.
6. Cat was sick.
7. Cat did not get along with other pets.
8. Owner evicted/homeless.
9. Owner died.
10. Cat did not get along with a new baby in the home.

Top 10 Reasons for Dog Relinquishment in July:
1. Owner moving.
2. No time for the dog.
3. Landlord/zoning problems.
4. Dog was sick.
5. Owner felt they had too many dogs.
6. Owner died.
7. Owner could not afford medical bills.
8. Dog did not get along with other pets.
9. Dog aggressive towards people.
10. Owner cannot contain dog in yard or home.

LA Animal Services’ Operation Safety Net will monitor these reasons to study seasonal trends. Strategies and partnerships are being developed to help Angelinos keep their pets whenever possible and appropriate.

The Big Fix Results: The close of Fiscal-Year 2005-206 for the Big Fix Spay and Neuter programs show a dramatic increase in sterilizations compared to the prior year. The two Mobile S/N Vans, and a greater issuance of books and Rescue Organization participation resulted in an increase of 12,255 sterilizations for the Fiscal Year. Last Fiscal Year 26,075 animals were sterilized compared to 38,300 for Fiscal-Year 2005-2006.

This is a 48% increase in spay/neuter surgeries in LA.

The Discount Coupon Program redemptions for FY 2004-2005 were 4023 while FY 2005-2006 redemptions were 4308. Fewer restrictions on the program and an increase in the monthly distribution of Discount Coupon books to participating Rescue Organizations have increased the rate of redemption for the year by 7%. While the increase may not appear to be that significant, it represents 285 more dogs and cats sterilized. An additional number of books were printed due to the demand by rescue partners.

The FELIX (Discount Coupon Feral Program) saw the largest increase of all the Big Fix Programs. FY 2004-2005 feral cat redemptions were 2699 while FY 2005-2006 redemptions were 5887. This is a 118% increase in the number of feral cats the Department and its rescue partners were able to sterilize.

The Free/Senior Citizen Certificate Program redemptions for FY 2004-2005 were 7234 while FY 2005-2006 redemptions were 6948. The Free/Senior Citizen Certificate Program was strongly impacted by the effectiveness of the Mobile Spay & Neuter Vans in Fiscal-Year 2005-2006. Many of the same City residents who now use the s/n vans would have accessed this program in the past. But, despite this offset, there was still only a 4% decrease in the number of sterilizations while the overall number for low-income and senior citizen sterilizations increased 56%.

Across the country and here in LA we are seeing there is no “silver bullet” to solve the problems associated with pet overpopulation. There is no amount of “consulting” or “criticizing” or “condemning from the sidelines” that will make a lick of difference. The only way to solve this problem is for all of us to work together, because it is only by working together that we can make LA the safest community in LA for our pets!

I want to thank all our volunteers, employees, partners and the community for stepping up to focus on helping the animals of LA Animal Services. Together we are making a difference in their lives and we will continue to do so.

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National Report Card on Shelter Killing

In the July 5th Blog, I shared some information from the forthcoming 13th annual ANIMAL PEOPLE analysis of kill rates in communities across the United States. The nation’s only report card on this important topic has now been published.

Mahatma Gandi taught us that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress is best judged by how we treat our animals. If that is true, then it is time we reject as a nation the catch-and-kill methodologies of the past and implement proven non-lethal programs that demonstrate we can truly be a humane society.

Excerpts from ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

“The good news is that the national rate of shelter killing per 1,000 human residents in the U.S. has dropped to a record low of 14.7.

“Because the U.S. human population and pet keeping significantly increased since 2001, total U.S. shelter killing is still above the low mark of 4.2 million. However, at 4.36 million in 2005, we could achieve a new low in 2006.

“Los Angeles city and county combined have cut their shelter killing in half since 2003, and at a combined rate of 3.94 are now killing fewer animals per 1,000 residents than San Francisco killed in 1994, the first year of the Adoption Pact that made San Francisco the first no-kill city.”

Click on the link below to read the entire report and see how LA is doing compared to the rest of the nation: http://www.laanimalservices.com/NationalKillingReportCard.pdf

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Understanding Animal Cruelty Investigations by Ed Boks

I am often asked why Animal Control Officers and our Cruelty Task Force sometimes impound animals and other times give warnings when they observe violations of laws such as having too many animals or animals that appear to be neglected. This is an excellent question deserving an answer.

First of all, it should be noted that Animal Services’ ultimate goal is to find safe and happy homes for all animals. This does not excuse a person from neglecting their companion animal(s) or violating local laws. But we also know from years of experience and thousands upon thousands of contacts with the community that the overwhelming majority of animal caregivers don’t intentionally abuse or hurt their animals. However, there are countless factors that may result in an animal being neglected.

Neglect sometimes results from a family or financial crisis; ignorance regarding the proper care of an animal; or any number of other reasons. Sometimes a person’s compassion for animals exceeds their capacity and they take in more animals than they can responsibly care for. These aren’t excuses. But they may be reasons that, if corrected quickly, can avoid an animal being taken to an already over-crowded shelter. With proper intervention and instruction a neglectful caregiver is often provided the information and motivation needed to become responsible.

Realizing this and based upon solid experience and statistics, Animal Control Officers throughout the country have learned that over 90% of animal caregivers who are found to have an animal in need of medical or other attention will comply with warnings, or a “Notice to Comply”, as we call them in Los Angeles. Typical situations involve dogs and cats with flea and other parasite infestations, unsanitary conditions including excessive feces and urine residue in the house and backyard or failure to provide adequate food, fresh water and shelter.

In the vast majority of these situations when an Animal Control Officer gives the caregiver a Notice to Comply, that caregiver responds and the animal’s safety and welfare is restored without the necessity of removing the animal from its home and placing it in a municipal shelter. Impounding an animal into a shelter may seem preferable at first glance but the community needs to know that even the most modern and sanitary shelters expose animals to a variety of diseases and stresses that can negatively impact an animal’s health and happiness.

Animal Services in Los Angeles is doing everything we can to make our new shelters as safe as possible, including the installation of state-of-the art ventilation systems, architectural designs that discourage the spreading of disease, and providing medical support to maintain an impounded animal in the best condition possible. But the best efforts of any municipal shelter can never provide the safe and comfortable environment that a responsible caregiver can provide in his or her home. If necessary for the animal’s welfare, impoundment may be appropriate. But if we can save a home for an animal by warning and assisting the caregiver, it is certainly worth the effort.

So, you may ask, just when do we choose to take (impound) animals from their caregivers instead of give a warning? Our policy is firm and clear (and supported by California law). LA City Animal Services will impound animals that are in imminent danger or when it is obvious that a warning to a caregiver will be ignored. But, again, if an animal is not in imminent danger and the caregiver appears responsible and able to correct a situation such as providing non-emergency medical treatment, flea or tick removal and control, or cleaner housing conditions, then there is no question that it is in the best interest of the animal that we issue a Notice to Comply with follow-up to insure that the caregiver has done whatever was necessary to correct the situation.

To be sure, the City does not issue warnings because it is easier or because we don’t care about an animal’s welfare. It is only because we know from decades of experience, both here in Los Angeles and around the country, that most people will correct problems if given a written warning with follow-up to insure compliance.

There is one particular situation that is rather unique and often times reported in the news…and that is the infamous “hoarder”. A hoarder is a term of art that refers to persons who not only have more animals than the law allows but more animals than they can properly care for. Studies show these people often suffer from a form of obsessive-compulsive behavior and will rarely respond to a warning to reduce the number of animals or provide proper care. The nature of this disease is such that these persons are not even aware of how they are neglecting the animals in their household.

“Hoarders” typically rescue animals from the streets and truly believe they are doing the best thing for the animals. Hoarders can live in a household that is filthy, infested with parasites, intolerable smells of urine and feces, and permanently stained and destroyed furniture…but even when confronted with the way they are living and neglecting their animals, they are literally unable to see the reality of the situation. It is like a person suffering from life-threatening anorexia who looks in the mirror and sees a fat, overweight person. It is a delusion of sorts.

So, in spite of our best efforts to help the average animal caregiver to correct neglectful situations, we know that “hoarders” will not (and cannot) correct a situation by themselves. Accordingly, our Animal Control Officers and the members of the multi-departmental Animal Cruelty Task Force are trained to recognize possible “hoarders” and distinguish them from those people in the community who have more animals than they can care for but do not suffer from this obsessive compulsive disorder. When there is a suspected “hoarder”, our investigators can also call upon the expertise of our veterinarians and City and County social services to confirm the person is in fact a hoarder.

When we do identify a hoarder with animals in need of immediate attention, make no mistake about it…we will not issue a Notice to Comply. As I said, this is because we know they are unlikely to correct a situation and it is in the best interest of the animals to immediately remove them from the household. We will often work with our New Hope partners and other qualified organizations in the community to coordinate resources so we can provide foster homes for seized animals so they don’t have to go to the shelter unless absolutely necessary.

Animal Services recently implemented a novel and proactive Foster Program for “evidence” animals. Historically, animals rescued by Animal Services from a hoarding or abusive situation were forced to languish in a City Shelter for weeks, months, or even longer as the case was adjudicated. Recently, with the help of the City Attorney’s Office and the support of the Animal Services Commission, Animal Services implemented a foster program for these needy animals so they don’t have to suffer the trauma of a prolonged shelter experience. If you are interested in participating in this program, please contact our Foster Program Coordinator for more information.

During this foster period, hoarding cases are fully investigated and referred to the City Attorney Animal Protection Unit for criminal prosecution or psychiatric evaluation as appropriate. Criminal prosecution is not usually effective with hoarders. Counseling, involvement with Clutterers Anonymous, and constant visits is required to help these folks. We have specially assigned prosecutors in the criminal justice system to make sure these goals are met and to get these animals into good homes as quickly as possible.

For those who have too many animals but do not fit the profile of a hoarder, we will issue a Notice to Comply with careful follow-up, knowing that almost all of these people will comply with our notice to provide the necessary medical care, cleaner or roomier housing conditions, and placing the “excess” animals in other suitable homes. Our investigators will do whatever they can to assist these people in complying with the law to provide a safe home for their animals including referring them to interested New Hope Partners and other qualified organizations and foster families to help bring about compliance in a reasonably short time…again with the animals interests coming first.

For non-hoarders who fail or refuse to respond to our written warnings (Notice to Comply), our Cruelty Task Force and Animal Control Officers will proceed with a formal investigation for neglect and other law violations and refer the matter to the City Attorney or District Attorney for criminal prosecution…and impound any animals suffering or in imminent danger.

In summary, Animal Services’ policy for issuing a warning versus immediately impounding animals is based on solid evidence and experience with one purpose in mind…to do the best thing possible for the animals as we work together as a community to make LA the safest City in the U.S. for our pets

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Report to the Mayor: Part I by Ed Boks

The following is an excerpt from a report from the GM of Animal Services to Mayor Villaraigosa. Watch for part II later this week:

I want to report on the progress made so far this calendar year at Animal Services. Los Angeles Animal Services received two national recognitions during the past six months. The first mention came from Maddie’s Fund®, the well known Pet Rescue Foundation (www.maddiesfund.org), established in 1999 to help fund the creation of a no-kill nation. The recognition was for “transparency,” ie., the ready availability of information to the public.

Of the over 5200 animal control departments in the United States and the tens of thousands humane societies and other animal welfare organizations, Maddie’s identified only five organizations for their transparency. LA Animal Services was at the top of this list and was the only municipal animal control program recognized.

One of the reasons for this recognition is LA Animal Services’ willingness to post its statistics on-line. Animal Services shares Maddie’s philosophy that transparency “will ultimately help save more lives,” and that by our example “other organizations will see the true merit of moving in this direction, and that transparency will become commonplace in the very near future.”

The second recognition came from the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. The official 14th annual ANIMAL PEOPLE analysis of kill rates in communities across the United States goes to press on July 20th. Merritt Clifton, editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE, forwarded LA Animal Services the following recognition based on the best available data of total U.S. shelter killing:

“Los Angeles city and county combined have cut their shelter killing in half since 2003, and at a combined rate of 3.94 are now killing fewer animals per 1,000 residents than San Francisco killed in 1994, the first year of the Adoption Pact that made San Francisco the first no-kill city.” Mr. Clifton goes on to cite LA as an example of a community making the “fastest progress” towards no-kill joining all “Southern California” in “the steepest decreases in shelter killing nationwide since 2001.”

These two positive mentions demonstrate Los Angeles is on the right track and is developing meaningful momentum for further improvement. Over the past five years, LA City’s dog euthanasia rate decreased 62 percent and our cat euthanasia rate decreased 19 percent.

In just the first six months of 2006, we’ve seen another 12 percent decrease in dog and cat euthanasia compared to the same period in 2005. In the 05/06 Fiscal Year just ending, fewer than 19,500 animals were euthanized.

This is the lowest number of animals killed in any one-year period in LA City history! At mid-calendar 06, the number of dogs and cats euthanized is 7,800. If we are able to maintain or improve our current efforts we may reduce dog and cat euthansia to under 16,000 this calendar year representing an additional 20% decrease in euthanasia.

During the past six months LA Animal Services experienced a 7% increase in adoptions compared to the same time period in 2005. The first two quarters of calendar year 2006 represent the highest pet adoption quarters [6821 adoptions] and the lowest euthanasia quarters [7,865 deaths] in LA Animal Services’ history! Add to this an additional 3,121 transfers to partnering organizations and our high return to owner rate and Animal Services “live release rate” for dogs and cats is an amazing 58%.

Animal Services has a 70% “live release” rate for dogs and a 44% “live release” rate for cats. The past six months is the first time in LA Animal Services history when more animals left alive then were killed. Together, we are truly making humane history in LA! 

I want to thank everyone who is helping make the no-kill vision a reality in LA!

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LA City Council supports Senate Bill 1806 by Ed Boks

Today the City Council voted to place the City of Los Angeles officially on record in support of Senator Liz Figueroa’s bill, SB 1806, to outlaw the confinement of a companion animal in an unattended, closed vehicle.

The City’s lobbyists in Sacramento now can testify or lobby on the bill’s behalf. Until today, it was impermissible for City officials to claim to formally represent the City in support or opposition to the bill, though they could represent themselves as individuals.

SB 1806 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 14-1 vote yesterday (Thursday) and will now go to the Assembly floor, where it appears destined for passage.

Thanks to LA Animal Services Commander Diliberto, LA City Attorney Dov Lesel, and LA Animal Services’ volunteer Judy Mancuso, for this groundbreaking work made possible by the support of the LA Animal Services Commission.

Together we truly are making LA and California the safest place in the United States for our pets!

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4th of July Warning! by Ed Boks

While people all over the country are looking forward to the traditional Fourth of July fireworks show, it’s important to remember that what’s fun and entertaining to us can be terrifying to our pets.

Frightened by the explosions and bright flashes of light, it’s not uncommon for frightened animals to dig under or jump over fences. Even the best-behaved and most well-trained animals run when they’re scared. And once they’re out of familiar territory, they get lost.

The fifth of July is our busiest day of the year because so many animals get loose the night before. We receive hundreds of calls from the public who have lost their pets during the fireworks celebrations.

The behavior of an otherwise normal animal can change with loud noises. In addition to seeing dozens of lost, scared, sick and injured pets on July 5, we also see many distraught people in search of their lost companions.

Summer is an especially dangerous time for an animal to be lost and on its own. Without water, animals can easily suffer heat exhaustion or dehydration. Roaming streets and sidewalks that have been baking in the California sun often lead to burned paws.

Animal Services has some simple suggestions to help pet owners keep their animals safe this holiday.

First, keep your pets indoors. If you are hosting a party, be sure to watch for open doors and gates. Pets are quick and can slip away before you know it. If you do have to take your animal outside, make sure he/she is securely on a leash.

If you can, confine your pet to a single room where he/she will feel safe. Make sure there is plenty of food and water (but don’t overfeed) and lots of toys to play with. You might also consider turning on a radio or television to drown out the noise of the fireworks.

Whatever you do, do not take your animal to an event featuring fireworks. Between the noise of the show and the bustling crowd, chances are good your pet could get away from you.

Finally, make sure your animal has current identification. Make sure to include your name and at least two phone numbers on the tag. If your pet does run away, that will increase the chances of your getting your pet back safely.

If your pet does run away, visit the Los Angeles Animal Care Center closest to you. People who lose pets should also check our website at www.laanimalservices.com

Animal Services wishes you and your pets a safe and happy 4th of July! Together we can make LA the safest City in the United States for our pets!

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Pet of the day By Ed Boks

LA Animal Services was recently recognized for its “transparency” by the Maddie’s Foundation.

In Animal Services’ continuing efforts to demonstrate transparency and work with the community to save lives, we are making available a link to our Pet of the Day feature.

If you click on the link below you will find an instruction page with a sample and the script to cut/paste into your own site.http://www.laanimalservices.com/petoftheday.htm

Please feel free to share this information with every animal friendly person and organization in town. The feature shows pictures of our animals along with information on where to go to adopt. Please help Animal Services save lives by making this function available on your website and every possible website in LA.

Thank you!
Ed Boks

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Comparing California Oranges to the Big Apple by Ed Boks

In the autumn of 2005 I did what few department directors voluntarily do. I asked for a top to bottom City audit to be conducted on my former agency, Animal Care & Control of New York City.

I hoped the audit would point out to New York City leaders the need for more resources to be invested in the operation. The City had conducted a scathing audit in 2002 that led to my being recruited to NYC to help turn the situation around. After two years and a 130% increase in adoptions, formation of over 150 New Hope partnerships, and a 30% decline in the euthanasia rate, I felt it was time to assess our progress with a full understanding of our shortcomings.

We still needed help, and we simply were not getting it from New York City.

Consider NYC Animal Care & Control has a $7.2 million budget to serve 8.2 million people. NYC has three animal shelters that the City had to condemn and take away from the ASPCA to give to a newly formed under budgeted and understaffed animal control program. NYC AC&C staff wages are 40% below the national average and the City does little to nothing to address this issue each year. Both NYC and LA handle roughly the same number of animals each year.

NYC’s three shelters serve 8.2 million residents. Queens, the fifth largest city in the United States has no shelter at all, neither does the Bronx. Staff are forced to transport animals over vast areas to the three full service, albeit, dilapidated shelters.

Compare this to LA with a $20.2 million budget serving 3.9 million residents with eight new state of the art animal care centers soon to be opened throughout the City. These facilities will rival the finest humane animal shelters anywhere in the country. While NYC’s Animal Care & Control’s budget never comes up in the NYC budget process, we were able to increase LA’s Animal Services budget by 11.6% this coming budget year, with an additional $3.3 million for one time tenant improvement monies, not to even mention the $150 million bond funding for constructing the new facilities and their campuses.

Clearly LA leaders and residents understand the importance of animal welfare in a community.

I requested the audit before I left New York City to highlight the lack of animal compassion in that community and to focus on three significant needs: 1) the need for more and better facilities, 2) the need for more and better trained and paid staff, and 3) the need for an adequate budget to fund humane, non-lethal programs. This audit does all of that and just in time for the current contract negotiations when this information is most needed.

This audit is now available and I believe it did exactly what I’d hoped it would do: It showed we were making progress despite the dearth of funding and support, but that there was much remaining to be done. You can read about the audit in the New York Daily News coverage via the link below, and view the audit itself via the other link.

Three important programs were inexplicably terminated shortly after my departure from NYC, the results of which are reflected in the audit. One was the termination of our PR program which helped keep the needs of the agency in the public eye every day. The second was a nationally recognized Shelter Dog Training Program that trained one hundred volunteers at a time to train shelter dogs making them more adoptable. The third was the elimination of the development department whose mission was to help offset the City’s inability to pay for these programs by conducting its own fund raising, a program recommended by the City Comptroller in the 2002 audit.

It is my hope this recent audit will be used by the current administration as it was intended, to make a compelling argument for more resources to save lives!

Soon after my arrival in LA, I met with LA Comptroller Laura Chick to discuss a similar audit of LAAS. We are working out the details and timing for that process. Audits, when used properly, are merely a compass. They tell you how far you’ve come, where you are, and how far you yet have to go. I’m hoping we can begin this process in LA Animal Services soon.

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The Case For Mandatory Spay/Neuter by Ed Boks

The month of May 2006 came in like a lamb but went out like hundreds of sick and dying neonate kittens. I doubt any stronger case can be made for mandatory spay/neuter than what you are about to read.

North Central Animal Care Center experienced an unprecedented number of neonate euthanasias during the last week of May. This was due to an unusually high number of orphaned neonates presenting clinical symptoms suggestive of infectious diseases such as Notedris cati, chylmydia, panleukopenia, and corona virus etc. Diagnostics were performed through blood work and complete dermatology exams for infectious skin diseases confirming these diseases.

254 orphaned neonates were euthanized in the month of May in North Central with well over 100 in the last week. South LA Animal Care Center euthanized 247 neonates in the month of May, and the entire LAAS organization euthanized a total of 823 orphaned neonates of the 2,035 dogs and cats euthanized.

That represents 40% of the May euthanasia rate!

This situation points out three critical needs:

1) the need for more foster homes to care for neonates in our Bottle Baby Program,

2) the need for broader implementation of our Safety Net Program to help support people relinquishing neonates with the resources they need to bring them through the weaning process, and

3) more aggressive Big Fix Spay Neuter Programs throughout the City especially during the winter months. LAAS is working on approaches to address all three of these needs and will report on our progress in future reports.

As a result of this unfortunate and tragic anomaly in the North Central Animal Care Center, the overall organizational month of May euthanasia rate increased 12% compared to May ‘05, but decreased 10% compared to May 04.

East Valley showed a 17% decrease in euthanasia.
Harbor showed a 29% decrease.
South LA had a 1% increase.
West LA had a 2.5% decrease.
West Valley had a .05% increase.

North Central was on track to show a decrease in euthanasia in May until the Center was literally inundated with sick and dying neonates during the last week of May. Rescue efforts were complicated by that being a Holiday weekend and by a shortage of qualified Bottle Baby Foster Care Givers.

The month of May Cat Euthanasia rate is up 19% compared to May 05 but down 6% compared to May 04.

The month of May Dog Euthanasia rate is down 2% compared to May 05 and down 13.5% compared to May 04.

If there is a silver lining to any of this news, it is that the Calendar 06 Year To Date Euthanasia rate for dogs and cats is down nearly 17% compared to the same time period in 05 and down 29.5% compared to the same time period in 04.

Calendar Year 06 Cat Euthanasia is down 7.6% compared to the same time frame in 05, and down 24% compared to the same time frame in 04.

Calendar Year 06 Dog Euthanasia is down 26% compared to the same time frame in 05, and down 35% compared to the same time frame in 04.

Of the 2,020 dogs rescued by LAAS in the month of May, 68 were either dead on arrival or died of natural causes. Four dogs were stolen for a remainder of 1,948. 731 were adopted, 333 were New Hoped, 299 were returned to their owners, 16 are in foster for a total of 1,379 live releases. That is an extraordinary 70% live release rate for dogs! Only 20 neonate dogs were euthanized.

Of the 2,646 cats rescued by LAAS in the month of May, 81 were either dead on arrival or died of natural causes. Six cats escaped and nine were stolen for a remainder of 2,560. 508 were adopted, 355 were New Hoped, 21 were returned to their owners, 55 are in foster for a total of 939 live releases. That is a dismal 37% live release rate for cats. 803 neonate cats were euthanized. Neonate cats represent 55% of the cat euthanasia rate. Clearly we can see where we as a community must focus our efforts to end the killing! We must turn the faucet off on the sheer number of unwanted cats being born in our community.

May 06 Dog and Cat Adoptions combined were up 7.25% compared to May 05 and up 6.25% compared to May 04.

May 06 Cat Adoptions were down 2.5% compared to May 05 but up 10% compared to May 04.

May 06 Dog Adoptions were up 15.5% compared to May 05 and up 3.5% compared to May 04.

The Calendar 06 Year to Date Dog and Cat Adoptions are up nearly 8% compared to the same time period last year and up 9.6% compared to the same time period in 04.

May 06 Dog and Cat New Hope Placements were down 10% compared to May 05 but up 22.5% compared to May 04.

May 06 Cat New Hope Placements are down 26% compared to May 05 but up 10.25% compared to May 04.

May 06 Dog New Hope Placements are up 18.5% compared to May 05 and up 39% compared to May 04. This is a welcome increase in the New Hope trend for dogs this year and coincides with the final stages of implementing the New Hope program.

The Calendar 06 Year to Date Dog and Cat New Hope Placements are down 16% compared to the same time period in 05 and down 7.5% compared to the same time period in 04.

(For all of these statistical categories, raw numbers are available in the statistical reports posted on the LAAS websitewww.laanimalservices.com.)

It is our sincere hope and expectation that with the community’s continued help the Bottle Baby, Foster, Safety Net, and New Hope Programs will help right this temporary reversal in our continued progress towards lowering the kill rate. Other efforts are underway with the help of various community partners to help get the word out to help LAAS in its lifesaving mission. Clearly, we will never adopt our way out of this crisis. It is time for all Angelinos to get serious about spaying and neutering their animals.

Rescue organizations too must be held accountable. No rescue organization should adopt an animal out that is not spayed or neutered. If such an adoption does occur the rescue organization must follow up until the sterilization has been confirmed. This holds true for LAAS as well. We will be monitoring every intact animal released to any rescue group or individual for medical reasons to ensure the animal is altered as soon as it is healthy enough.

In order for LA City to achieve its No-Kill goal we must add a No-Birth initiative to our strategic plan as exemplified by LA County’s recent spay/neuter law, even if it is for a limited number of years, long enough to get a handle on this problem. At some point we have to turn the faucet off. There are simply too many unwanted kittens being born.

We must also bolster our Operation FELIX (Feral Education and Love Instead of X-termination) Trap/Neuter/Return Program and our Big Fixspay/neuter efforts for cats. It is my hope that all Angelinos will support any responsible initiative that will help us as a community to end the killing.

I understand very well that this is a controversial issue for some, but I hope we can all agree that the misguided accidental and deliberate backyard and puppy/kitten mill breeding must be stopped if we ever expect to end the killing.

(The May LAAS GM Report is now available on-line.)