Animal Shelter Bond Gains Key Supporter

The head of a key City Council panel Monday endorsed a proposal to ask Los Angeles voters to approve bonds to build new animal shelters, in response to a scathing report on overcrowding at city facilities.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee, directed city administrators to draft the documents necessary for a $139-million bond measure. The full council must act by July to place the measure on the November ballot.

Political experts say that the city will have to work hard to sell bonds to voters, who have twice in recent years rejected bonds for police and fire facilities.

Miscikowski voiced her support for a bond measure after hearing a report from consultant Cliff Allen, who said that three of the six city shelters should be replaced and that five additional shelters should be built.

“We are still inhibited from doing the job that is necessary because of the facilities themselves, and the inability of the facilities to accommodate not only those animals impounded, but also to provide a welcome and warm facility so we can really accelerate the adoption program,” Miscikowski said.

The consultant recommended a 10-year construction program costing $250 million, but the head of the city Animal Services Department recommended a bond measure of $139 million for this year to do the most critical work.

Dan Knapp, the department’s general manager, proposed a bond measure that would add two shelters in the San Fernando Valley and others in West Los Angeles and the northern and southern parts of the city. The bond measure also would replace the Harbor-area shelter and renovate existing shelters in the East Valley, the West Valley, West Los Angeles and the north-central area.

Allen, who was hired by the city Animal Regulation Commission, said the worst conditions are at shelters in the Harbor area, the East Valley and West Los Angeles areas.

“You have three in terrible condition,” he testified during a hearing at City Hall. “They are small, they are obsolete, and they are old.”

The consultant also recommended that staffing be substantially increased to handle the growing number of stray animals roaming city streets.

To handle the workload, the city needs to increase the number of field officers from 45 to 88, the number of animal care technicians from 51 to 97 and the number of veterinarians from six to 10, he said.

Miscikowski asked Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton to review how the city might pay for the increased staffing if it proceeded with a bond measure to build new shelters.