Proposal for Mascots at Fire Stations Dies

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday narrowly rejected a proposal that would have allowed the county’s fire stations to keep dogs as official mascots.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who introduced the measure, said the County Fire Department should allow the canines into fire stations because so many children and other people--as well as some firefighters--like dogs.

But the supervisors voted 3 to 2 against the proposal after Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said the department is officially against allowing dogs to live in its fire stations.

The Fire Department for decades allowed canine mascots, but banned the adoption of new ones in 1994.

According to department officials, dogs impeded the firefighters’ ability to respond to emergencies, were expensive to care for and consumed time better spent on other duties.

Firehouse dogs, the officials said, also put the county at financial risk because it could be held legally liable if the dogs bite someone or even cause allergies among firefighters who have to share their part-time homes with canines.

When that policy was adopted, dogs already living at fire stations were allowed to stay, but they have slowly been dying off.

Antonovich--who urges dog and cat adoptions at each board meeting--said his only desire was to permit those stations in which all the firefighters wanted a dog to obtain one. The one colleague who supported him was Supervisor Don Knabe.

Supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky all voted against the proposal, while stressing that they are not “against dogs.”