Jake, a 2-year-old tan mixed breed dog at LA’s West Valley Shelter, wasn’t feeling well.
After 6 months at the shelter, he was jumping up and down in his kennel.
So shelter officials put him on the euthanasia list in September.
“With our current staff, we are unable to meet his enriching needs and continued housing in a shelter environment would be inhumane,” the worker’s memo said.
The number of dogs euthanized at Los Angeles city-run animal shelters has skyrocketed this year.
A Times analysis found 1,224 dogs were euthanized at the city’s six shelters from January to September, a 72% increase compared to the same period last year.
Starting in 2022, the number of dogs entering shelters will increase every year. However, the number of dogs culled this year far exceeds the increase in the number of dogs. The euthanasia rate for dogs has increased from 5.5% from January to September last year to more than 8% this year.
Approximately 1,517 cats were euthanized through September, an increase of 17% from the previous year.
Overcrowded shelters, where dogs cannot be walked for weeks and sometimes live in feces-covered kennels, can cause some animals to misbehave and suffer “mental and emotional breakdowns,” it said. According to a report from the long-standing conservation group Best Friends Animal Society, which worked with the city’s shelter.
This makes them less likely to be adopted and more likely to be euthanized.
According to the city’s euthanasia list, which can be viewed on the city’s website, Jake and several other dogs sentenced to death must be severely ill or have serious behavioral problems. It has been shown that this is not because they arrive with a burden, but because chronically understaffed and underfunded shelters are unable to meet their basic needs.
Agnes Sibal, a spokeswoman for L.A. Animal Services, the city agency that runs the shelter, said there was an “overcrowding crisis” in which “there is no place to house the dogs that come in.”
“This means dogs with behavioral problems are more likely to be at risk of euthanasia,” Sibal says.
After Mayor Karen Bass takes office in December 2022, she vows to save animal lives and make LA a “national model for animal welfare.”
She increased the animal services budget by 18 percent, which was much lower than the 56 percent increase the department had requested, but made some cuts to the budget next fiscal year. She also hired a new general manager, Stacey Daines, who ran the Long Beach shelter.
Best Friends announced in September that it was withdrawing its offer of financial assistance to the city, giving millions of dollars to other shelters that “demonstrate a greater sense of urgency and commitment to rescuing at-risk pets.” He said funding would be needed.
“The current administration has squandered inherited advantages and failed to invest in capacity building, adoption programs, animal welfare, public and staff safety, and customer service,” Best Friends said in a statement.
Bass spokeswoman Gabby Maas said in an email that “as a result of our emergency efforts,” approximately 25,000 animals have been adopted or rescued from shelters. This is an increase of 17% compared to the same period last year.
Maas said the city is “expanding its wandering cat spay/neuter program, increasing overall spay/neuter services, hiring essential staff, making improvements and repairs at six shelters, and making significant safety-related improvements.” The company has made investments to “address these issues.”
Despite higher euthanasia rates, most animals still leave city shelters alive, whether they are adopted, taken to a shelter, or returned to their original owners. It’s far away. Until September of this year, the “savings rate” was 91% for dogs and 81% for cats.
Shelters across the country are dealing with an influx of animals as people abandon their pets due to rising rent costs and veterinary costs.
From January to September of this year, 33,028 dogs, cats, and kittens were admitted to Los Angeles shelters. This is an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. Dogs accounted for almost half of that number.
Still, L.A. shelters were even more crowded than before the pandemic. More dogs and cats entered city shelters in the first nine months of 2019 than during the same period in 2024, according to a Times analysis. However, euthanasia rates for dogs and cats in 2019 were lower than this year.
Sibal, a spokesperson for the Animal Protection Department, said more large dogs than usual are coming to the shelter and staying longer. Larger dogs can take up to twice as long to be adopted, worsening overcrowding and increasing euthanasia, she said.
Visitors walk past the dog kennels at Chesterfield Square Animal Shelter in August.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Mr Sibal said some dogs were living in crates in hallways and staff rooms due to lack of space.
Earlier this year, two puppies were housed in a kill room at the city’s West LA shelter. Sibal said the situation was unusual and the purpose was to protect the puppies from illness.
In June, volunteers at the shelter emailed Bass’s city office to question the city’s euthanasia policy.
The email said the dog, which was listed as available for adoption by the public, was marked for euthanasia. Additionally, some dogs that were considered friendly were reclassified as available to rescue groups, but not to the public, because they were deemed to have behavioral issues.
“The result is a conveyor belt of happy, healthy dogs who are incorrectly labeled as unadoptable,” the email said.
Asked whether the city’s euthanasia policy has changed, Sibal wrote that authorities aim to ensure “public safety and humane animal welfare.”
“We also need to do this while balancing overcrowding with meeting the needs of the community,” Sibal said. “Our commitment to saving lives is unwavering.”
Jill Dische, executive director of the rescue group Outa the Cage, regularly visits evacuation centers in the city. Some dogs that fight with other dogs are quarantined and placed on the euthanasia list, but others are not.
“Euthanasia policy is still very vague,” she says. “Looks like it’s a moving target.”
In a 16-page report documenting conditions at the East Valley and Chesterfield Square shelters this summer, Best Friends criticized Animal Services Director Daines as the “biggest barrier” to improving conditions at the shelters. .
The shelter had no written procedures, and staff reported that the euthanasia policy had “changed five times in the last year” with no communication about the changes.
The report also details ways to reduce the number of dogs in city shelters. Solutions range from helping pet owners keep their pets, to improving customer service for adopters, to allowing adopters to take their dogs home before returning for spay/neuter treatment. .
The report says the dogs have been at the Chesterfield Square shelter for long periods of time, with little human interaction and likely “more than two weeks before spending any significant amount of time outside of their kennels.”
From January to September of this year, 33,028 dogs, cats, and kittens were admitted to Los Angeles shelters. This is an 11% increase compared to the same period last year.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
One dog, named Olive Oyl, only left his kennel 14 times during his 240-day stay and was on the euthanasia list until he was rescued, according to the report.
The report also noted that “solid organic matter” may not be removed from kennels, and that some kennels are not cleaned other than by spraying with water while the dog remains inside. .
At an East Valley facility, staff “continuously” sprayed a brown female dog in the face while cleaning her kennel.
“When attempting to run to the back of the kennel, the dog repeatedly fell,” the report states.
City officials declined to comment on the Best Friends report, and Daines declined to speak to the Times. Daines, who earns about $272,730 a year, took paid leave earlier this year and has not returned.
City Commissioner Kenneth Mejia, who volunteers at the shelter, has taken to social media to highlight the increase in euthanasia numbers and criticize the city’s budget decisions.
The majority of the city’s $5.9 billion operating budget goes to the police department, which received $1.9 billion this fiscal year. Animal Services received approximately $30 million.
Mejia told the Times that “everyone at City Hall” knows about the animal shelter’s understaffing and overcrowding problems, but that Bass and most of the City Council support cutting the department’s budget this year. spoke.
“The city needs to do more to protect the animals, the department’s staff, and the public, rather than just letting animals deteriorate in shelters and euthanize them,” Mejia said.
Animal welfare consultant Kristen Hassen, whose firm was recently hired to evaluate shelters, said at a committee hearing this week that L.A. Animal Services ranks among the least-funded large shelters in the country. Said to be one. She said she saw two staff members at the Chesterfield Square shelter in charge of feeding dogs in 275 kennels and cleaning the kennels.
Hassen said that without enough staff, the facility has “inconsistent cleaning and food” and “persistent illness.”
Hassen told the animal services commissioner it’s unclear why more cats are being killed by the city. She said the high rate of dog euthanasia was an “overcorrection” by the department to deal with behavioral problems and serious biting incidents.
Bass’ office announced last month that Hassen, along with other animal rights groups and academic groups, will partner with the city to improve conditions at the shelter.
Jake, a 2-year-old dog who was scheduled to be euthanized after shelter staff deemed his dog unable to meet his needs, is no longer listed on Animal Services’ website.
Roger, a 6-year-old tan and white Kangal Shepherd mix, was placed on the euthanasia list this fall. He is showing signs of fear, anxiety and stress and is “cautious and fearful around new people,” according to staff notes.
The dog was taken 10 times during its five-month stay at the South L.A. shelter for walks and “feeding” to the play area.
“We are unable to provide Roger with the supplies he needs and keeping him confined to a concrete kennel is inhumane for a 6-year-old geriatric dog,” the memo said.
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