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Animal Rights Advocates Demand Reform of Los Angeles County Animal Shelters
Arcadia Weekly Sep 30, 2015
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Activist Laura Jones at a recent press conference in Pasadena. – Photo by Terry Miller
Peaceful Public Protest Planned for Oct. 3 at Downey Animal Care Center
More than 200 animal advocates and members of the public are expected to attend a protest led by Laura Jones, co-founder of All About the Animals, who made news over the last few months after exposing feces-filled kennels at Downey Animal Care Center in late August. The peaceful protest is scheduled to take place this Saturday Oct. 30, 2015, at the Downey Animal Care Center located at 11258 South Garfield Avenue in Downey. Participants are meeting at 11 a.m. in front of the center with the protest beginning at 11:30 a.m.
To show that they are urging the LA County shelters to clean up their act, the protest organizers are requesting that the public bring poop scoopers, brooms, mops, etc. as well as, if possible, their shelter dogs along with “before” pictures of them in the shelter to reflect all their glory “after” their shelter escape.
“The protest is our latest effort in our stand against the inhumane treatment, wrongful killing, neglect and unsanitary conditions that the animals are subjected to in the Government run LA County animal shelters,” said Jones. “The shelters house homeless animals, but the public must be aware that even their own pets may be at risk if they escape out of their back yard and have the misfortune of ending up at an LA County shelter. They will very likely get sick in the shelter, and could very well get neglected and mistreated, never mind the fact that they have only around 50% chance of making it out of the shelter alive.”
Jones points to the most recent example that took place on Sept. 20, 2015, when rescuer Krista Place discovered Baca, a two-year-old Australian Shepherd, who was extremely sick at Carson Animal Care Center. She found Baca panting heavily and throwing herself against the kennel walls. Despite Krista reporting that Baca needed urgent medical attention to two separate Animal Control Officers within the space of one hour and a half, Baca died without being seen by the vet.
“Hearing the news of Baca’s death broke me. He didn’t have to die,” said Place, who found out from Lisa Eldridge, Animal Care Center Manager for Carson.
Jones added, “It is time for the public to speak out for the defenseless shelter animals,” and is requesting that if concerned members of the public cannot attend the protest, that they complete a Grand Jury civil complaint form, which has been pre-populated and is available to download at www.allabouttheanimals.org.
The Director of the Department of Animal Care and Control claimed in a recent report that the Department is “an industry leader in managing animal health.” This protest is designed to demonstrate that the public strongly disputes this statement. The report was in response to an investigation commissioned by Supervisor Knabe into unsanitary conditions at the LA County shelters. After Laura Jones and All About the Animals conducted a survey of local animal rescue groups and presented numerous examples of inhumane treatment, wrongful killing, neglect and unsanitary conditions to Supervisor Knabe’s office, the Department is investigating the latest complaints made.
