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Animal Advocates Kick Off ‘Adopt a Shelter Dog’ Month With Protest at Downey Shelter
Arcadia Weekly Oct 07, 2015
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– Courtesy Photo
Department of Animal Care and Control Continues to Deny Culpability
Animal advocates protest inhumane treatment of animals at Los Angeles County shelters while the Department of Animal Care and Control continue to deny culpability in their latest report.
More than 60 animal advocates and members of the public gathered in peaceful protest at Downey Animal Care Center during National “Adopt a Shelter Dog” Month, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. Their message was firm: “Mistreatment no more! We want reform!”
Demanding that the LA County Department of Animal Care and Control cleans up its act, the protesters took to the streets adorned with mops, brooms, pooper scoopers and cleaning products to drive the point home. Before and After photos of dogs rescued from shelters showing their remarkable transformation while signage included statements such as “End the suffering,” “Stop the neglect and wrongful killings.” There was even a dog with a sign which read “Treat us better”!
Several Downey shelter survivors also attended the protest with their proud owners, including: Yanni, who is now a therapy cat, and Jelly Bean, a Chihuahua mix that was whisked away from a feces-filled kennel by Laura Jones, co-founder of All About The Animals, back in August.
Notably absent in the lineup of LA County shelter survivors was Baca, a two-year-old Australian Shepherd mix who tragically died on Sept. 19, 2015, after Carson shelter staff failed to treat him. This is despite rescuer Krista Place alerting Animal Control Officers twice within the space of one and a half hours of the need for him to receive emergency medical treatment. Baca had been throwing himself against the kennel walls and panting heavily.
“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.
Meanwhile, on the same day as the protest, the Department of Animal Care and Control (the Department) published a report (http://file.lacounty.gov/dacc/cms1_234841.pdf) in response to the survey of rescue groups conducted by All About the Animals which elicited 111 complaints, and which was presented to Supervisor Knabe’s office around a month ago.
The report from Marcia Mayeda, Director of the Department, claims that the survey was “statistically insignificant.”
“Marcia Mayeda’s response is typical of her defensive and deflective response to criticism which entails making excuses rather than taking responsibility and accountability and striving to make improvements within the shelter network,” said Jones. “It also fails to address, for example, the documented photographic evidence of a blind dog drinking out of a bowl filled with urine, and an owned dog (that was wrongfully killed despite his owners trying to reclaim him) whose bowl contains feces instead of water.”
Mayeda also disputes All About the Animals’ claims of rescue groups fearing retaliation from her Department as a result of whistleblowing. In her report, Jones cited an example of a civil law suit brought by Cathy Nguyen against the Department in 2007 for breaches of California animal welfare laws. Nguyen had her adoption rights rescinded by Mayeda in December 2007, who claims in her report that this was not retaliatory. This is in contrast to the opinion of an LA County Superior Court judge, who ruled in March 2008 that Nguyen had strong probability of success in a Section 1983 claim (http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Section-1983-to-the-Rescue.pdf) due to an attempted violation of her First Amendment rights to speak out about perceived abuses of animals and violations of law. The Court also held that the rescuer had demonstrated the likelihood that her suspension was retaliatory by showing both that the suspension came soon after her public comments and threats of litigation, and that the County failed to reveal any basis for it. The Court stipulated that the County restore Nguyen’s access to the shelter.
Supervisor Knabe’s Office are now reviewing the complaints made via the All About the Animals survey in more depth, having been apprised by Jones of the numerous alleged breaches of animal welfare laws, which seem to have shown no signs of abating since the 2007 lawsuit (which was settled in favor of the plaintiff – see more at http://file.lacounty.gov/bos/supdocs/46057.pdf).
– Courtesy Photo
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