L.A. Panel Cuts Ties to Animal Care Group : Investigation: Legislators are also seeking curbs on private authority to name humane officers after U.S. probe of organization’s purchase of assault weapons.

The Los Angeles City Animal Regulation Commission has suspended its relationship with Mercy Crusade of Van Nuys, which is the subject of state and federal investigations brought on by reports that the animal welfare group bought up to $100,000 in assault-style weapons.

In Sacramento, meanwhile, state legislators--with encouragement from the city of Los Angeles--are moving to change state laws that authorize animal welfare groups such as Mercy Crusade to name state humane officers.

The activities of Mercy Crusade’s chief humane officer are what brought on the federal firearms investigation. The Times reports on the federal probe prompted the state investigation, the city’s actions and the efforts in the state Legislature.

Under a little-known state law, humane officers are authorized to wear uniforms similar to those of the California Highway Patrol, carry guns, conduct criminal investigations and make arrests. The officers, who are frequently volunteers with little formal law enforcement training, operate without government supervision.

The current system is outrageous, said Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood), who has introduced legislation calling for a study of the role of humane officers, as did Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar).

“To have a self-run, quasi-governmental vigilante-type group armed to the teeth running around on behalf of animals” is not “in the best interests of the state of California,” Tucker said Thursday.

Like many others, including officials of the state Department of Justice who monitor peace officers’ qualifications, Tucker said he had never heard of humane officers before reading about them in The Times. There is no government agency that oversees them nor any central registry to check their identities or how many there are, although there appear to be hundreds of them.

After being nominated by animal welfare groups, the officers are commissioned locally by county presiding judges, which court employees say is generally routine after a quick check for a criminal record.

Tucker said he was shocked that humane officers are required to undergo only a 24-hour firearms training course, offered by community colleges, before being authorized to carry guns. The state requires most other state peace officers to have a minimum of 364 hours of training, and many large police departments require 500 hours or more, plus psychological and background checks.

After reports in The Times that Mercy Crusade was the subject of a federal investigation into its gun purchases for humane officers, the state attorney general’s office began looking into whether the tax-exempt group improperly bought the arsenal of guns with charitable donations it received from the public to help spay and neuter pets.

In light of the state investigation, the city is suspending Mercy Crusade’s participation in all programs sponsored by the Department of Animal Regulation, including a high-profile spaying and neutering program, until the issue is resolved, according to a Jan. 24 letter sent to Mercy Crusade by Gary S. Olsen, the department’s general manager.

He asked the group to “immediately curtail distribution” of city-funded vouchers for sterilization of pets and return them to his office. In recent years, Mercy Crusade has distributed at least 3,899 such vouchers, worth a minimum of $20 at veterinary clinics, on behalf of the city, and recently received 500 more.

Mercy Crusade officials could not be reached for comment.

Los Angeles city officials are also very concerned about the risks to public safety posed by unsupervised humane officers, Gini Barrett, president of the commission that oversees the Department of Animal Regulation, said this week.

In recent weeks, members of her commission and Mayor Richard Riordan’s staff have discussed whether the city could assume immediate jurisdiction over humane officers operating within the city limits, she said, but determined that the best course would be to support changes to the state civil code that gives the officers their authority.

“We can’t override state law,” Barrett said. “This has to be solved at the state level.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms opened an investigation into Mercy Crusade last summer after San Fernando Valley gun dealers reported purchases of as much as $100,000 worth of assault-style weapons using checks drawn on Mercy Crusade accounts, in some cases just before such guns were to be restricted under pending federal gun control legislation.

Mercy Crusade’s leader and chief humane officer, Pepperdine University economics professor James McCourt, has denied any wrongdoing. He has declined to return recent calls seeking comment on the group or its expenditures.

In earlier interviews, however, McCourt told The Times and federal agents that he bought the weapons for his dozen or so humane officers for a variety of reasons. Among them: to foster a sense of camaraderie among officers by training them with advanced weapons, to gain the respect of other law enforcement agencies, and to protect animal shelters from rioters.

According to federal authorities, McCourt and his aides also have bought at least 22 other weapons, almost all of them semiautomatic versions of military assault rifles.

It was legal for McCourt to buy the weapons. Federal prosecutors have refused to prosecute on the agents’ allegation that he gave a post office box instead of his true home or business address on weapons purchase forms, as required by federal law. But the investigation remains open, federal agents have said, because they still want to know why an animal welfare group would want to amass such an arsenal.

After revelation of the federal probe, the state attorney general’s office announced that it had opened an investigation into Mercy Crusade, saying it wants to know whether the group broke laws that require charitable organizations to spend donated money on the specific purposes for which the contributions were solicited.