Galanter Rips Leadership of Animal Control Office

The battle over alleged animal abuse at shelters run by Los Angeles heated up Wednesday as one City Council member insisted the problem is one of “leadership” at the Animal Regulation Department, while the director of that department blamed budget cuts.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter wanted the council to ask for a grand jury probe of the charges of mistreatment of animals, but after heated debate, the council put off a decision until Friday. Although several of Galanter’s colleagues said the allegations should be looked into, they could not agree on whether to seek outside help from the grand jury or to ask for an internal city audit of the department.

Galanter said the audit would likely prove fruitless. “We had an audit in 1986 and it vanished somewhere beneath the rug,” she said.

Galanter and a number of animal-rights activists maintain that animals at the city’s six shelters are treated inhumanely and are often destroyed within hours after arriving.