Report Calls on L.A. to Add Animal Shelters, Staff

Los Angeles city animal shelters are so overcrowded and in such poor condition that half should be replaced as part of a massive, $250-million rebuilding effort that would increase the number of shelters from six to 11, a city study has concluded.

The study by a private consultant commissioned by the city also recommends in the next decade doubling the number of animal control officers who respond to calls in the field, saying the changes are needed to save animals’ lives and provide humane and compassionate care.

Currently, inadequate staffing and shelters means Los Angeles is only taking in two-thirds the dogs and half the cats in need of care, in comparison with other cities, said the study by Meyer and Allen Associates.

“Right now, we can’t ensure the safety of animals kept in the public trust,” Dan Knapp, general manager of the city Animal Services Department, said Friday.

“This [plan] provides us with the ability to protect our citizens. It will provide us the ability to provide a life-affirming shelter for animals and to be a true safety net for animals who stray from their owners,” Knapp added.

He said city officials are drafting a plan that may ask Los Angeles voters in November to approve bonds for $140 million of the work, including expansion to 11 shelters--doubling of the number of shelters in the San Fernando Valley from two to four and adding three in other areas of the city.

The five new shelters would comprise a second facility in West Los Angeles, north-central and South-Central, the East Valley and the West Valley.

Existing shelters in the West Valley, the East Valley, West Los Angeles and north-central would be renovated, and the Harbor-area shelter would be replaced.

Animal-rights activists said they might support the bond measure if they can be guaranteed that other steps will be taken to improve staffing, equipment and training.

“I’m extremely concerned about the conditions in the shelters,” said Madeline Bernstein, president of L.A. branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “Expanding the number of shelters and providing more staff and a sufficient budget to take care of the animals would be a good step.”

However, Barbara Fabricant of the Valley-based Humane Task Force said the city would not have to build any more shelters if it just improved enforcement of laws meant to hold down the pet population, including the breeding of animals.

Fabricant said the conditions in city shelters today are “abominable” as much because animals are mishandled as for inadequate facilities.

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The study, which projected the needs based on population growth over the next decade, compared Los Angeles’ shelter system with those of other cities, including Pasadena, and concluded that Los Angeles would have to double its staffing by 2010 to match the level of care provided elsewhere.

Los Angeles needs to quintuple the number of dog kennels and double the number of cat cages by 2010 to end overcrowding, the study recommended.

Fewer animals would be euthanized if there were more cages to hold them longer as they await adoption or redemption by owners, Knapp said.

The administrator said the proposed $140-million bond measure would provide much, but not all, of the construction funds in the next five years.

The bonds would also pay for the added shelters in the West Valley, East Valley, West Los Angeles, north-central and South-Central, Knapp said.

A second building phase could then be pursued after 2005 to complete the work recommended by the consultant. They would include replacement of the current East Valley shelter and construction of a second Harbor area shelter, as well as additional renovations at the other facilities.

Knapp said he agrees with the consultant’s recommendation to increase staffing, but he added that the proposal to immediately increase staff by 33% to 50% is unrealistic, because it takes time to hire and train new animal-control officers, and the additional staffing called for in the study is not budgeted.

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The report was sent this week to the City Council for consideration.

Jessica Copen, a spokeswoman for Mayor Richard Riordan, confirmed that he is considering a proposal for a November ballot measure to pay for the new shelters’ construction and renovation.