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ANIMAL WATCH - There has been a great deal of news coverage and large outcry regarding Mayor Bass’ proposed budget for the Los Angeles Animal Services Department (LAAS). Demonstrations have been held against the budget cuts slated for LAAS and many speakers have denounced the cuts at hearings and other venues. The Mayor has been referred to as the “Grim Reaper” and worse; flyers have circulated stating that “Fewer shelters = fewer kennels = many more deaths of innocent animals.”
Mayor Bass’ proposed budget for LAAS for 2025-26 provides for $25,470,257. The current fiscal year estimated expenditures for LAAS are $31,165,000. So the Mayor is planning to cut the Department’s budget, which was already hopelessly underfunded, by $5,695,000, a cut of 18.3%. The Mayor’s budget even cuts the allocation for Animal Food in half, from $403,000 in 2024-25 to $200,000 for 2025-26. Being a volunteer at the West Valley Shelter, I know that the dogs do not particularly like the food they are currently fed. I only wonder what, and how much, LAAS will have to feed them under this new budget. Or is the reduction of the food budget a recognition that fewer dogs and cats will survive in the shelters?
The cuts are even greater when compared to the budget that LAAS requested for 2025-26. That requested budget was fully endorsed by the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates. The Budget Advocates Report for LAAS (of which I am the principal author) can be found here: Link, pages 16-21.
As can be seen on page 19 of the Budget Advocates Report, the total requested departmental budget for 2025-26 is $34,884,699. As discussed in the Report, that is the minimum needed by LAAS to humanely care for stray, homeless, and surrendered animals; to enforce the spay/neuter laws; and to provide safety in our neighborhoods. This is approximately one quarter of one percent of the City budget, to care for all of the animals in the City, including those in the six fully functioning municipal animal shelters. Nevertheless, Mayor Bass’ proposed budget for LAAS cuts $9.4 million from this requested amount, which is a 27% cut! As stated in the Budget Advocates Report:
“We completely agree with and support the following statement made by the Animal Services Department in its Proposed Budget: ‘We recognize that the current budget instruction calls for budget requests to be cost-neutral through the use of offsets, but as a small Department with limited resources seeking to address a number of shortcomings, we do not have the capacity to suggest offsets at this time.’”
The Budget Advocates Report adds, in a statement to the Mayor, City Council, and CAO (City Administrative Officer): “Please keep this in mind as you review the Proposed Budget – offsets will result in the deaths and suffering of dogs, cats, and other animals and unsafe conditions in the shelters and streets of Los Angeles!” (Page 21,emphasis added)
The Budget Advocates Report also states:
“If the Department cannot provide enough employees to properly care for animals at maximum capacity for care (e.g., all available humane housing units occupied), then the Department may have to kill for space, an outcome which is directly contrary to the City’s No-Kill policy. That is the choice facing the City – adequately fund the animal shelters … or kill healthy adoptable animals!” (Page 19, emphasis added.)
The Budget Advocates Report also discusses the non-departmental request for funding for spay/neuter. It is unclear what the Mayor intends to do with that. The Mayor and City Council should keep in mind that spay/neuter is the only humane long term solution for overcrowding in the City shelters and will result in huge savings to the City in the long term. See previous CityWatch article: Failure To Provide Adequate Funding For Spay/Neuter Is “Penny Wise And ‘Pound’ Foolish.”
Recently, City Controller Kenneth Mejia announced that his office will conduct an audit of the Animal Services Department. I suggest that Mr. Mejia and his staff review the full Neighborhood Councils Budget Advocates Report for LAAS, including the Addendum, as part of the audit.
IF ANYONE THINKS THE MAYOR’S ACTION TOWARD DOGS AND CATS IS ONLY BECAUSE OF THE CITY’S BUDGET DEFICIT, THAT MISCONCEPTION IS LAID TO REST BY ANOTHER ACTION THE MAYOR IS CURRENTLY TAKING. THE MAYOR IS BLOCKING A PLAN (WHICH WILL NOT COST THE CITY A PENNY) TO SAVE THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF DOGS AND CATS! THE MAYOR HAS PLACED A HOLD ON THE SISTER CITY PROJECT TO END DOG AND CAT MEAT IN VIETNAM, WHICH IS CURRENTLY PENDING A VOTE IN THE CITY COUNCIL.
As readers of CityWatch know, this project was first publicly disclosed and discussed in detail in the article entitled Five Million Dogs and Cats Desperately Need Saving in Vietnam. In summary, about 5 million dogs and 1 million cats are brutally killed in Vietnam each year, in the dog meat trade. That’s more than 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats a day. A description of the brutal ways in which dogs are killed is contained in the above cited CityWatch article.
The City of Los Angeles has an opportunity to convince a city in Vietnam to ban dog and cat meat, as we helped to do nationwide in South Korea. It is the official position of the City of Los Angeles to oppose dog meat, including specifically in the country of Vietnam. In 2019, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution to that effect, which was signed by the Mayor. The resolution is quoted in the CityWatch article noted above.
The idea is to offer a city in Vietnam a sister city relationship with Los Angeles, which would be conditioned on the Vietnam city banning dog and cat meat. We call this the SISTER CITY PROJECT TO END DOG AND CAT MEAT IN VIETNAM. Los Angeles does not currently have a sister city in Vietnam.
In September 2023, President Biden and the leader of Vietnam entered into the Joint Leaders’ Statement: Elevating United States-Vietnam Relations To A Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Joint Leaders Statement encourages sister city relationships between the United States and Vietnam. Becoming sister cities will offer Los Angeles and Hanoi many benefits, including increased business and trade opportunities, increased travel and tourism, increased educational and cultural exchanges, increased cooperation and investments in science, technology, agriculture, and energy, and many other benefits.
So the plan is to do what President Biden suggested, enter into a sister city relationship with Hanoi. And because of the official position of Los Angeles to oppose dog meat in Vietnam, it should be conditioned on Hanoi banning dog and cat meat, or agreeing to phase it out.
After many months of discussion and consideration, the Sister City Project was introduced in the Los Angeles City Council on February 21, 2025 as Council File 25-0193. It was introduced by Councilman Bob Blumenfield and seconded by City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson. There has been overwhelming public support for the Sister City Project To End Dog and Cat Meat In Vietnam and the motion in City Council File 25-0193. More than 2,900 people have submitted Public Comments in the City Council File 25-0193 in support of the motion to implement the project (a phenomenal number of public comments on a City Council motion). The Tarzana Neighborhood Council (TNC) has passed a Resolution and Community Impact Statement in support. The Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC), consisting of representatives of the Neighborhood Councils in the San Fernando Valley, unanimously passed a resolution in support: VANC Resolution supporting the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat in Vietnam. Prior to introduction of 25-0193, more than 9,000 people signed a petition entitled Los Angeles & California Must Help End the Brutal Killing of Millions of Dogs & Cats in Vietnam, asking City Councilmembers to sponsor and support a resolution or motion adopting the Sister City Project To End Dog and Cat Meat In Vietnam.
Daily News, Los Angeles Considers Hanoi Sister City Partnership To Encourage Dog Meat Ban.
But no action has been taken by the City Council since the motion’s introduction on February 21. No action despite the fact that 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats are dying horrible deaths each day. No action despite the overwhelming public support. When I asked what was going on, I was told that the Mayor’s Office had put a hold on the motion.
There is no reason to block or delay a City Council vote on the Sister City motion. Questions regarding the motion have been asked and resolved prior to introduction of the Sister City motion, including:
1. Is it culturally insensitive to ask Hanoi to ban the dog and cat meat trade? No. That miscomprehends what we are doing and what Vietnamese culture is. The dog and cat meat trades are economic, not cultural. There are people in Vietnam who make money from dog and cat meat, and it is they who are keeping the practice going. The Sister City Proposal provides an economic incentive as a counterbalance, negating any money perceived to be lost from ending the dog and cat meat trade.
A poll conducted in Vietnam by the organization Four Paws found that 95% of Vietnamese think that eating dog and cat meat is not part of Vietnamese culture. A recent Nielsen opinion poll (Aug – Sept 2023) commissioned by Humane Society International (HSI) found that 68% of respondents in Vietnam support a ban on the dog meat trade and 71% support banning the cat meat trade.
2. Will this cost the City of Los Angeles anything? The answer is no, it will in fact be economically beneficial to the City, as discussed in the previous CityWatch article.
I asked the Mayor’s Office to comment on this article, both the budget cuts for the Animal Services Department and the hold on City Council File 25-0193 (the Sister City/Dog and Cat Meat Motion). I did not receive a response from the Mayor’s Office.
The Mayor should restore funds cut from the Animal Services Department budget and remove the hold she has placed on the Sister City motion, Council File 25-0193.
Postscript: In a late response to my request for comment, after this article had already been submitted to CityWatch, Mayor Bass stated that she is adding $5 million from the unappropriated balance to the Animal Services Department budget. The Mayor stated that this would insure that all six City animal shelters would remain open.
However, the Mayor has still not removed the hold on City Council File 25-0193, the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat in Vietnam, or stated why she placed the hold.
(Jeffrey Mausner (www.mausnerlaw.com/) is on the Executive Committee of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC) where he serves as the Liaison to the Los Angeles Animal Services Department; he is 2nd Vice President of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council and Chair of its Animal Welfare Committee. He also volunteers at the West Valley Animal Shelter. A retired attorney, law professor, and former U.S. Justice Department Federal Prosecutor, Jeff has received numerous awards, including the 2023 Guardian of the Animals Award and a 2024 Special Commendation from the California Legislature. He co-founded the Global Anti-Dog Meat Coalition. This article is written in his private individual capacity, not on behalf of the Animal Services Department.)
