Report Critical of County-Run Pet Facilities

Humane Society investigators invited to inspect Los Angeles County-run animal shelters found widespread practices that they said pose danger to animals, employees and the public, and they urged an internal investigation into allegations of criminal misconduct, according to a confidential report obtained by The Times.

No details were specified regarding the alleged criminal behavior, but the report suggested that animals were being stolen from the county facilities.

The report cited instances of shoddy security that allows animals to disappear, inadequate training of shelter workers, sloppy sanitation and inconsistent safety practices.

At several shelters, the report said that animals suspected of having rabies were beheaded on or near the tables where the sheltered animals’ food is opened. Staff members preparing the carcasses for rabies testing wore no protective clothing to ward against transmission of the disease and were “unaware of the potential danger” that a rabies-infected animal could pose, the report said.

“It is unconscionable that such a procedure, which directly threatens all staff involved, has been conducted without the necessary precautions,” the report stated.

Brian Berger, director of the county’s Department of Animal Care and Control, said Thursday that he has taken steps to rectify some problems pointed out by the Humane Society, but he downplayed the seriousness of the concerns and criticized the investigators for not pointing out successful county programs.

“If we were going to have a report that reaches people like you, it should also emphasize the positive,” he told a Times reporter.

The report, a copy of which was turned over to The Times by an official of Actors and Others for Animals, an animal welfare organization, was based on a two-day visit of two Humane Society officials to the six county shelters last June. The report was forwarded to Berger’s department last month.

Also given to The Times was a report from a management firm hired by the county to interview shelter workers. Like the Humane Society, John Barry and Associates found a substantial morale problem among shelter employees, who said they felt overworked and ignored by managers.

“We think the department’s ‘humane’ policy should extend to its employees,” the Barry report concluded.

The Humane Society team found problems at each shelter in the system, which impounds 95,000 animals a year and arranges 16,000 adoptions.

“I’ve rarely seen situations that were so pronounced, where there were so little or so few precautions taken,” said Eric Sakach, a field investigator with the Humane Society’s West Coast office and one of the Los Angeles visitors.

Sakach refused to elaborate on the report’s statement that “rumors and allegations of criminal misconduct appear to be rampant.”

Berger indicated that he will not accede to the request for an internal investigation unless he learns the identities of workers who told the Humane Society representatives of such rumors.

“I wish they had told me and given specifics,” he said, adding: “If it’s true it ought to be investigated.”

Theft Suggested

The report suggests that one form of criminal misconduct--theft--may be occurring regularly at shelters. A worker in the Downey shelter advised investigators that “at least one to two cats are lost/stolen per week.” A Carson shelter worker said at least two cats are missing from that shelter each week as well.

Because of “seriously inadequate” security around the perimeter of the shelters, the report said, “animals could easily be stolen by unsupervised public.” The report cited low fences and unsecured gates as contributing to security problems.

The county’s practice of supplementing its shelter work force with court-referred convicts also came under harsh criticism. The report noted that convicts were given keys in order to perform their duties.

Security ‘Undermined’

“The fact that court referrals had possession of any keys undermines internal security, particularly in a facility that maintains supplies of controlled substances,” the report said.

Berger and other county shelter officials defended their use of convicts, emphasizing that they try to weed out any workers convicted of drug or animal cruelty charges. Most, they said, are ordered to work at the shelters because of convictions for drunk driving or vehicular offenses.

“If we didn’t have them at all, we couldn’t maintain these shelters,” Berger said.

In the report, the investigators drew attention to a potentially life-threatening lack of controls on chloroform, used to subdue animals, and suggested that this pointed out a broader concern about insufficient training for shelter workers.

Chloroform supplies were improperly stored in animal control vehicles, which were left unattended and unlocked at the Downey shelter, the report said. A reserve officer at the Castaic shelter had chloroform in his car but had not been instructed in its health hazards. Chloroform has been listed as a cancer-causing agent and is “highly dangerous” to workers, the report said.

Overall, the report said, training is inconsistent, with some workers knowledgeable and others unprepared for their jobs.

“Training in sanitation and disease recognition and prevention, animal handling techniques, proper use of equipment and breed recognition is inadequate throughout,” the report said.

Department Director Berger said he agreed that more training of shelter workers is needed, but said that time constraints make on-the-job training difficult to accomplish.

Morale Problems

Both the Humane Society and John Barry and Associates reports warned of broad morale problems among animal control department workers. The department has 200 full-time employees.

“The main problem is the perception . . . that management is distant, not open and not responsive,” the Barry report stated. “The most frequent complaint is pettiness and favoritism on the part of management and supervision.”

Berger denied that favoritism occurred, saying: “I don’t think it’s true in the slightest.

“I do push hard,” he added. “There’s no second choice if I want to keep service up.”

Since the report was received by the department last month, Berger and other officials said, workers have been reminded of proper procedures--for one, the wearing of protective clothing while dispensing of animals suspected of carrying rabies. The department is in the process of buying more food dishes and animal resting benches to replace old ones criticized in the Humane Society report, officials said. Other recommendations are under study, Berger said.

Mary Ann Masey, a member of the voting board of Actors and Others for Animals, said she released the reports to The Times after private efforts to improve conditions at the shelters proved unsuccessful. “What we want is the department brought back on track,” she said.