Ban 'no pets' lease clauses. It'll relieve animal shelters

Letters to the Editor: Ban ‘no pets’ clauses in apartment leases. It’ll help L.A.’s animal shelters

Volunteer Jan Bunker looks at rabbits and guinea pigs in one of the small mammal rooms at Los Angeles' Harbor shelter.

May 6, 2023 3 AM PT

To the editor: Here’s an idea to help the understaffed, overworked L.A. Animal Services Department: fewer animals. How? The City Council should enact a ban on “no pets” clauses in apartment leases. (“Bass’ budget proposal for Animal Services is far less than what department requested,” May 1)

How many times have you suggested to a friend that they get a cat or dog, only to hear the woeful reply, “My landlord says no pets”? And this obstacle is far more likely to fall before the less affluent renters in, say, Pico Union than the homeowners of Pacific Palisades.

Every time a landlord just flippantly includes such a provision, it means one more poor child growing up without animal companionship, and one more dog or cat dispatched to the euthanasia room.

You want to be a landlord in the city of Los Angeles? Then you should have to let your tenants adopt pets.

Tad Daley, Baldwin Hills

To the editor: Officials are “concerned” by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed budget for the Animal Services Department, and they are “reviewing” it. We’re told the mayor’s office is leading a “nationwide search” for a new general manager.

Blah, blah, blah.

No one is talking about why the volunteer coordinator has been out on administrative leave since Feb.14. Animals continue to be put down because there aren’t enough people to care for them.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Shame on us.

Susan Scheding, Los Angeles

To the editor: I do not live in the city of Los Angeles, but animals in my community are sometimes “guests” at its shelters. We all want animals to be safe in any shelter, so it’s upsetting to learn about L.A.’s animal services funding issues.

I urge Bass to meet with respected and experienced animal defenders who can help her understand what the shelters need. Volunteers have given much time and care to these animals. Surely they should be the voices for the abused or deeply loved animals who may spend their last days on Earth in a “shelter.”

Please, Mayor Bass, learn, care and make overdue changes now.

Beatrice J. Simpson, South Pasadena