Lack of funding and lifesaving structure is costing lives at LAAS

On November 22, a story published in the Los Angeles Times outlined the failure of the city to save animals at Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS). The Times reported that the changing euthanasia protocols at LAAS have resulted in a 72% increase in dog euthanasia and a 17% increase in cat euthanasia from January through September 2024, compared with the same months in 2023.

I’m heartened to see this discussion taking place, as I believe the public should be aware of the goings-on in municipal shelters funded by their tax dollars. At the same time, it is devastating to see this loss of life at LAAS, and to know that the frontline shelter staff — animal lovers — are made to carry out these life-and-death decisions due to being stuck in a broken system not set up for lifesaving. No one’s job description should include killing healthy homeless pets. So yes, this is an important discussion, but it omits the necessary conversation that follows: how to save the lives of dogs and cats in shelters.

It should also be noted that, as in many cases, the term “euthanasia” is not warranted here. “Euthanasia” correctly defined refers to the humane ending of a life because an animal is irremediably suffering or dangerous. “Killing” is used when the life of a healthy, treatable, and conceivably savable animal is ended. Many of the dogs and cats who have died at LAAS so far this year — up to 200 per week, still — were not irremediably suffering or dangerous. They simply were the innocent victims of a failed system that purports to protect them.

As such, this is where I believe we should focus this discussion: How does the city of Los Angeles increase its lifesaving while elevating the quality of life of the animals they are trusted to care for?

One of the built-in dysfunctions of Los Angeles Animal Services is its sheer size. LAAS oversees six shelters and six service districts serving more than 4 million residents, spread across nearly 500 square miles overseen by one general manager. That setup might have worked in the days when little more was expected of shelters than to operate as pounds with a three-day stray hold requirement for animals before they were eligible for release to possible adoption, medical research, or death. Today, when so much more is rightfully expected of LAAS and its general manager in terms of lifesaving programs, it’s impossible for one person to be an on-the-ground leader in the shelters; hold staff accountable to ensure the animals are properly cared for; oversee and safeguard the animals from intake through adoption; attend city council and animal commission meetings; manage budgets, union and media relations, and so much more.

I am asking that the city creates three district manager positions to be filled from within the ranks of department. Each district manager would report to the assistant general manager, who in turn reports to the general manager. This would push decision-making, innovation, ownership, and accountability closer to the ground, effectively turning one unmanageable department into three manageable departments that can improve conditions, decrease animal intake, and increase lifesaving.

After that, the most effective pathway to lifesaving begins with the once-radical idea that the public is not the problem but the solution to what ails animal services. That means, first, the city needs to ask for help in full transparency of the issues, listen to what its constituents are saying, and invest in the resources required to maximize community support. High-functioning, trusted volunteers are a force multiplier, but a fully functional system requires more.

Another important move is to create (currently nonexistent) staff positions whose sole responsibility is to prioritize adoptions, foster care, and the nascent Citywide Cat program. Currently, no LAAS staff members have the word “adoption” or “foster” in their job titles. These positions prioritize moving dogs and cats through the shelter to homes in a timely manner, rather than passively hoping for the best.

Other very important and achievable changes include building collaborative partnerships and coalitions among regional animal services organizations, animal rescue nonprofits, and community members working toward a shared goal. That requires leadership focused on animal lifesaving. It should be an embarrassment to the mayor’s office in one of the wealthiest, most animal-loving cities in the world that the department charged with the safety, care, and protection of its pets has been relegated to an underfunded afterthought.

I should note that all of the above recommendations were presented to the mayor’s office as a fully funded offer of support by Best Friends as part of a larger package to save more lives at Los Angeles Animal Services. That’s a longer story that you can learn more about here.

Whether or not the city chooses to implement our recommendations, Best Friends is not going anywhere. We have been working in Los Angeles for decades, and our commitment to the pets and the people of Los Angeles remains steadfast.

Best Friends continues to take animals from LAAS into our programs, and we remain dedicated to helping the LAAS staff on the ground. For example, at our recent Super Adoption event in L.A., LAAS adopted out 44 dogs and 18 cats. And at the end of the event, Best Friends, Paws for Life K9 Rescue, and Angel City Pit Bulls brought their remaining 30 dogs and 12 cats into our rescue groups, allowing LAAS trucks to return to their shelters empty.

Additionally, on September 25, Best Friends began offering a stipend to LAAS New Hope partners who pull at-risk dogs and cats from any of the six LAAS shelters. As of today, more than 400 animals have been saved through this incentive — more than 110 of those from the South Los Angeles shelter alone. Thus far, Best Friends has given $130,000 to the New Hope partners involved in these rescue transfers, and we continue to offer this support to save more vulnerable lives.

On the policy side, Brittany Thorn, executive director of Best Friends Los Angeles, is attending LAAS commission and Los Angeles city council meetings to make public comment. Other Los Angeles-based Best Friends staff and volunteers also attend these meetings to continue our communication with the city and keep lifesaving a priority. Brittany will also be participating in a shelter cleanup project for the South L.A. facility on behalf of Best Friends, and looks forward to helping make that shelter safer and more inviting for the public.

If you live in Los Angeles, I encourage you to urge Mayor Bass and the city council to implement the programs and policies needed to keep pets and people safe. If you aren’t in L.A. but are concerned about the issues at LAAS, sign and share this nationwide petition.

The L.A. City Council and Mayor Karen Bass have the power to save and protect the pets and people of LAAS. Best Friends will continue to push city leaders to lean in and support much-needed changes within Los Angeles Animal Services so that animal well-being, lifesaving, and public/staff safety are prioritized, and Los Angeles may once again become the largest no-kill city in the nation.

-Julie

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