Crowded House : Harbor Shelter Hopes City Adopts Modernization Plan

As Dave Morgan opened the door marked Observation Room, the stench of caged dogs fouled the mid-afternoon air.

“One of the problems here is ventilation,” said Morgan, catching his breath as a Labrador retriever, a Doberman pinscher and a pit bull eyed their visitors. “We also have a wall heater that is constantly needing repair.”

Morgan, who works at the Harbor Animal Care and Control Center in San Pedro, was about halfway through a tour of the 4-building facility run by the city of Los Angeles. But unlike most tours, Morgan was not making the routine pitch for permanent homes for the dozens of refugees at the shelter.

This time, he was more concerned about their temporary lodgings.

“This place is just old and deteriorating,” he said, pointing to cracked plaster and chipped paint in the main building. “

Officials from the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation say the harbor shelter--which last year handled 4,777 animals from San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City and Harbor Gateway--is one of the worst in the city. The 38-year-old facility, they say, is too small for either its staff or its animals.

Male and female animal control officers share one locker room. Some hearings on barking-dog and dangerous-animal complaints have to be moved to South-Central Los Angeles because the harbor hearing room can accommodate only a handful of people.

Morgan and his supervisor, George Weissman, squeeze their desks into a 10-foot-by-11-foot office that doubles as a lunch room--complete with refrigerator and microwave oven--as well as the hearing room. Water from the kennels and dog runs creates a narrow, stagnant pond across the shelter’s parking lot because of poor drainage.

One of Worst in City

“There are six shelters in the city, and the worst are the South-Central and the harbor shelters,” said Weissman, a 29-year veteran of the Department of Animal Regulation who recently took over as supervisor of the harbor facility. “We need to bring it up to standard.”

Last week, harbor-area Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores agreed.

Saying the shelter operates “under the poorest conditions,” Flores introduced a motion to the City Council on Wednesday that calls for a major overhaul of the facility.

Flores asked the Board of Public Works and the City Administrative Office to come up with plans and cost estimates to refurbish the shelter, tucked away on Battery Street near the Channel Street exit of the Harbor Freeway. The motion was referred to the council’s Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee, which is expected to consider it within the next two weeks.

City officials said Friday that preliminary estimates for the modernization run between $200,000 and $300,000. Some of the money, they said, could come from the sale or lease of the former Ann Street Animal Shelter in downtown Los Angeles, which was recently replaced with a new facility.

Ann D’Amato, Flores’ harbor-area deputy, and animal regulation officials said they do not believe that conditions at the harbor shelter have resulted in the mistreatment of animals. D’Amato said Flores’ office has received no complaints about the shelter.

“I don’t think the animals feel they are suffering,” said Weissman. “They take their situation pretty much for granted. But as humans, we can see the conditions need to be improved.”

Added D’Amato: “The animals seem fine. They are just crowded.”

According to Flores’ proposal, which was written with the help of animal regulation officials, the shelter’s office and an adjoining reception area would be converted into holding pens for small animals and a recovery room for sick or injured animals.

In addition, a 7-room house on the property, until recently used as a caretaker’s residence, would be removed from the site and replaced with a 1,100-square-foot prefabricated office building, the motion says. The building would include a business office with a public counter, separate offices for Morgan and Weissman, a hearing room, and locker rooms.

The motion also calls for improvements to the cages, pens and parking areas and specifically states that floors should be contoured to improve drainage. It also recommends increased security lighting.

“We are trying to get things rolling,” D’Amato said. “It looks like it really makes sense to make these changes.”

Weissman said the improvements would make the shelter more comfortable for employees and animals. He challenged anyone who might question the need for the improvements to visit the facility.

“Right now, you can’t even open the office door during a hearing without getting the smell and the dog noise as you are trying to conduct business,” he said.