Out-of-Kilter Reward Proposal

By any measure, the death of Pal is a sad story. The 35-pound purebred pug was found skinned and dying earlier this month outside the Encino home he shared with his owner, an 84-year-old deaf woman for whom the dog was sole companion. But almost as sad as Pal’s grisly death is the ensuing imbroglio--a fight that highlights ongoing problems within the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services and the city’s displaced priorities.

A veterinarian at the Animal Services Department determined that a coyote had killed Pal. But vets working with animal rights activists disagreed, claiming instead that the dog had been neatly skinned by a sharp blade in sick hands.

Some have even alleged a conspiracy by animal regulation officials who support trapping to keep the coyote population in check. For their part, animal services officials got a warrant and searched the offices of the vet who treated the dying pet. Movie stars and other dog lovers have offered $21,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of Pal’s killer.

Stepping into the fray, the Los Angeles City Council today is scheduled to decide whether to add $5,000 to the private reward pool. If it does, the total reward would be larger than the average the city has offered for the killers of humans. Yes, pets add richness to human life, but something is out of kilter here.

The council should reject the reward proposal and focus instead on the tougher and more substantial question of what to do about the Animal Services Department. Understaffed and underfunded, the department has lost the faith of the very animal advocates who ought to be its closest allies. Even with the proposed 5% increase in Mayor Richard Riordan’s budget, the department would remain barely able to do its job. Before the department’s first new recruits in a decade were added last year, it had lost one-third of its dogcatchers to budget cuts, a situation that made for packs of feral dogs roaming some sections of the city. Kill rates in some shelters approach 90%. There is only one veterinarian on staff to care for the 75,000 animals that go through shelters each year.

It’s doubtful that animal services officials are engaged in a conspiracy over Pal’s death. More likely, they are as usual trying to do too much with too little. If animal rights activists truly want to solve the mystery, they should share with the city the findings they reportedly have. The council, meanwhile, needs to leave the reward to private donors. Public energy and money are better spent to first improve human life and an animal agency in need of help.