ANIMAL WATCH

ANIMAL WATCH-Under the "finders, keepers" plan of LA Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette, recently approved by the City Council, the city's costly animal shelters may soon become merely havens for wayward Pit Bulls -- the dogs least likely to be picked up as strays and taken home by Good Samaritans. 

ANIMAL WATCH-On August 15, Councilman Paul Koretz, Chair of the Personnel and Animal Welfare (PAW) Committee which oversees Los Angeles Animal Services and essentially decides all city animal policies, was lauded by local animal rescuers, fur-ban advocates and major animal-rights organizations --

ANIMAL WATCH-On August 15, 2018, two members of the Los Angeles City Council --  Paul Koretz and Mitchell Englander -- approved a motion that would prohibit the manufacture and sale of fur products, including apparel made in whole or in part of fur or any fashion accessory, in the city of Los Angeles (CF 18-0538). 

ANIMAL WATCH-Los Angeles Animal Services' GM Brenda Barnette did not comment on the August 8 KTLA News report of the death of a female Pit Bull dumped in front of a South Los Angeles home on Monday.

ANIMAL WATCH-Ask LA Animal Services’ GM Brenda Barnette about her officers' heroic actions for animals in the increasingly dangerous streets of Los Angeles and it is likely she will recite the latest news broadcast on the exploits of the Los Angeles Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team (SMART) -- praising Armando Navarrete, Annette Ramirez and Ernesto Poblano. 

ANIMAL WATCH-Another Pit Bull attack and injury to an employee occurred at an LA Animal Services shelter, just weeks after a dog mauled volunteer Ursula Carmody.

ANIMAL WATCH-A widely shared online post, claiming a Los Angeles restaurant had a court’s permission to kill up to three dogs a day for public consumption, was “fake news,” according to CBS.

ANIMAL WATCH-On July 10, the Los Angeles Animal Services Commission heard an appeal by Frank and Laurel Pavone, who adopted a Pit Bull from Best Friends Animal Society and four months later it killed a neighbor’s 9-year-old Chihuahua.

ANIMAL WATCH-Since 2010, LA Animal Services' General Manager Brenda Barnette and Councilmember Paul Koretz (photo above, right) have been trying to raise the pet limits in Los Angeles – and for different reasons.

ANIMAL WATCH-The discovery of two mutilated dead cats lying near each other in his neighbor's yard last Tuesday morning deeply disturbed Arleta Neighborhood Council President Jaime Gallo.

ANIMAL WATCH-As the result of very persistent and persuasive phone calls from a prominent activist that an LA Animal Services' Commissioner was claiming his electronic communications were "hacked," a California Public Records Act request (CPRA) was sent to General Manager Brenda Barnette and certain members of the Los Angeles Animal Services Commission. 

ANIMAL WATCH-"Puppy-mill" bans are increasingly being exposed as unable to stop the commerce of mill-bred animals in cities/states where they have been passed.

ANIMAL WATCH-On November 27, 2017, Commissioner Roger Wolfson (photo above, right), one of Mayor Eric Garcetti's appointees to the Los Angeles Animal Services' Commission, introduced his initiative to switch the entire city shelter population of lost, homeless, abandoned and stray dogs to a totally meatless diet.

ANIMAL WATCH-Sheriff Jim McDonnell served with the Los Angeles Police Department for 28 years before becoming Chief of the Long Beach Police Department in 2010.

ANIMAL WATCH-On May 2, LA Superior Court Judge Shellie Samuels denied a request to reduce the sentences of the two Los Angeles Lucky Puppy Rescue Retail store owners, Rachel Kennedy and Sandra Vasquez, who are currently on suspended sentences with summary probation after conviction for animal abuse and neglect. 

ANIMAL WATCH-The Los Angeles Animal Services' website solicits donations to the Animal Welfare Trust Fund using irresistible images of puppies, kittens and a bunny and assuring donors their monetary gifts "will enhance the quality of life for shelter and other animals by funding animal supplies, medical equipment, improvements to Animal Shelters and other animal welfare-related projects undertaken by the Department of Animal Services." 

ANIMAL WATCH-#BanPitBulls flyers, with the heading, Pit Bull Facts, were posted widely this month in Los Angeles and other cities, including Boca Raton, Florida, and they seemed to catch activists by surprise.

ANIMAL WATCH-A Washington Post article, "Dog rescuers, flush with donations, buy animals from the breeders they scorn," sent shock waves this week through the animal rescue and sheltering world. It also prompted a call by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) for federal investigation and regulation. 

ANIMMAL WATCH-Any dog attack is alarming, painful and can cause lasting injury -- whether it is by a Pit Bull or a Chihuahua--regardless of whether victims are merely knocked down or the animal sinks its teeth into their flesh. Plus, there are other victims in every attack--family members, witnesses, those who try to stop the attack, employers, and landlords or business owners on whose property the incident occurs. 

ANIMAL WATCH-Best Friends Animal Society last week named Julie Castle, 48, as its new CEO, heading the massive Kanab, Utah sanctuary. She will also be in charge of Best Friends' "No BSL" Pit Bull lobby, to assure Pit Bulls, regardless of temperament, behavioral history or involvement in dog fighting, have the opportunity to be adopted by families— maybe right next door to you. She will promote the TNR program for feral cats nationwide. And, Julie Castle personally pledged that the state of Utah will be “No Kill” by 2019 and the entire U.S.A. will reach this goal by 2025.

ANIMAL WATCH-Los Angeles Animal Services and other local animal-control agencies and rescue groups cite Pit Bulls and feral cats as California's biggest humane challenges today. Cows are pretty low on their list of trending animal-related public safety/health issues. Thus, in 2018, it is hard to envision that, less than a two-hour drive from opulent Beverly Hills and celebrity-studded Hollywood, reality is transformed into danger and destruction by wild Pit Bulls and feral long-horn cattle. 

ANIMAL WATCH-With the current dysfunction of LA Animal Services in regard to insuring public safety and providing wildlife expertise, it seems GM Brenda Barnette, the Commission and Mayor Eric Garcetti are oblivious to the growing danger of rabies across the nation. Have they assured that 911 operators, LAPD and City animal shelters know how to direct callers 24/7 in the event of an attack by a potentially rabid animal in LA.?  

ANIMAL WATCH-Why don't LA Animal Services’ General Manager Brenda Barnette and the LA Animal Services Commission want lost, stray, abandoned or unwanted animals brought to the Los Angeles City “No Kill" shelters (as recently announced by Mayor Eric Garcetti) for safety and quick return to owners searching for their furry (or feathered) family member? Barnette reports that dog impounds are down and owner redemptions are up at LA City shelters, so, why not continue a good thing? Could it be the stats aren't really telling the whole story? Or, could numbers have been achieved in a manner that is not sustainable and a new elusion is needed?  

ANIMAL WATCH-On November 28, Commissioner Roger Wolfson, one of Mayor Eric Garcetti's appointees to the Los Angeles Animal Services' Commission, brought a group of "experts" and speakers to convince the Commission to approve changing all LA city shelter dogs to a meatless diet. General Manager Brenda Barnette supported the report of Chief Veterinarian Jeremy Prupas, who advised against such a change for the City's shelter population. 

ANIMAL WATCH-If over eight million views and 100,000 shares on Facebook are a win, then Los Angeles Dog-bite Attorney Ken Phillips’ Super Bowl Commercial gamble paid off -- even though it didn’t hit the big screens on Sunday, February 4. 

PET SCARE--Canine influenza H3N2 is a highly contagious upper respiratory viral disease spread among dogs, and can infect cats as well. L.A. Animal Services recommends pet owners to consult their dog's veterinarian and ask if their pet should be vaccinated. 

ANIMAL WATCH-On January 30, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a fast-tracked motion by Councilmen Paul Koretz and Bob Blumenfield and supported by General Manager Brenda Barnette, to instruct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance which removes LA's long-standing pet dog limits.  

ANIMAL WATCH-If you heard the KFI AM-640 news report about four adult Pit Bulls escaping in San Diego on Saturday and killing seven Chihuahuas in their own yard, get used to it! 

ANIMAL WATCH-Mayor Eric Garcetti, LA Animal Services' GM Brenda Barnette and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and City Attorney Mike Feuer may find it an unnerving surprise that the vegan dog-food proposal to feed only meatless meals to Los Angeles city shelter dogs -- propounded by Commissioner Roger Wolfson and eagerly supported by Best Friends enthusiast Layne Dicker -- has found fervent support and visual prominence on the Liberation/blog page of DirectActionEverywhere.com, the new site connected to the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). 

ANIMAL WATCH-At the December 12, 2017, evening meeting of the LA Animal Services Commission to discuss approval of performing a feasibility study on feeding vegan food to the impounded dogs in all city shelters, GM Brenda Barnette, Commission President Larry Gross, and Assistant City Attorney Dov Lesel acquiesced to the persistence of two of Mayor Eric Garcetti's appointees, Roger Wolfson and Layne Dicker (photos above) -- turning an official hearing into a bully pulpit opportunity for their egocentric rants and grandstanding.