Dept. of Animal Regulation

As one of the people who was interviewed by your reporter for the article, I can say without hesitation that your recent piece on the state of the City of Los Angeles’ Animal Regulation Department missed the boat.

Sure, the department is suffering from budget shortfalls, as is every government agency these days. But unlike any number of other agencies whose work doesn’t involve working with animals, this one attracts the attention of an intensely passionate constituency. Animal Regulation is a department that could have enormous amounts of support if the department really wanted it and, most important, if the public felt the department was earning it. But L.A.’s department literally resists being helped in any significant way.

While your article alluded to some of the fairly serious internal problems and misdeeds of the department, it failed to do more than skim over the surface of them. The article whitewashed everything from basic mismanagement to outright criminal scandal.

JOYCE FOREST, Los Angeles