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THE ANGRY ANGELENO - At 3 AM on Friday, November 22, Dakota Smith (along with Lorena Elebee, who handles data and graphics), who covers the LA City Hall Beat (and has done several articles on conditions at the half dozen LA City Animal “Shelters”), came out with a VERY important article entitled “Mayor Bass Said She'd Save LA's Shelter Animals. More Dogs And Cats Are Dying”.
The article STILL appears for FREE on Yahoo News.
The article did not have a prominent position on the LA Times website. The article quickly became hard to find on the CALIFORNIA Page part of the website. It was accompanied by a picture of two sad dogs behind bars (the other article pictures also have dogs behind bars, which makes me wonder why there isn't more of a focus on cats and kittens being killed, but I still very much appreciate any coverage). People can log in and leave public comments on the Times website, but on a controversial article like this those comments can be heavily censored, er, I mean “moderated.” You know that an article is hot, trending, and controversial if public comments quickly go over 100. For this controversial article on a topic that people are passionate about, comments VERY quickly became stuck at roughly a mere 23. You don't have to actually close comments to actually close comments. But, in case you were wondering, “comments are now closed.” So, CONVENIENTLY, you cannot leave a comment online after reading yesterday's print edition.
Why am I talking about yesterday, Sunday's, print edition? (which also arrives via email to LA Times subscribers) Yesterday was Sunday, December 1, in the middle of Thanksgiving Weekend, sandwiched between Vacay, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Football Games. That's NINE DAYS AFTER the online release of the Original Bombshell Scandal Article. And, of course, the headline got changed to the benign and relatively boring “Deaths Increase for Pets at LA's Shelters”, as if to make sure that nobody will read it (they still haven't pulled or changed the headlines of the two linked versions provided above). It ran on the far right column of the front page with NO picture. To find the picture (a picture like that attracts readership), you have to go all the way to page A11. NO inclusion in the CALIFORNIA section. I haven't checked if the text has been changed. I'll leave that to you.
The article tells us that the number of dogs killed by the City's 6 “shelters” between January and September of THIS year was 1,222 dogs, “a 72 percent increase...” Also, about 1,517 cats were killed during this period. How about number of kittens killed? (in my experience, I've seen them counted separately).
I know that my Editor/Publisher/Owner of CityWatch is gonna get contacted by Mayor Bass' Office regarding my column after it comes out today. The focus will be on the word “Abuse” in my headline. I've already had this happen to me previously with my headline that said that Katy Yaroslavsky was facing a Recall Threat. Her office contacted CityWatch and my headline was “neutered” (very appropriate word to use in a column about animals). Perhaps that's what happened with Dakota's article for the LA Times. Did Mayor Bass, worried about her Election in less than 2 years, ring up Patrick Soon-Shiong (or his daughter Nika), the Owner of the paper that endorsed her? I'm wondering if the Times article would even be in the print edition if it wasn't for the desire not to upset Dakota further. I'm sure Dakota is upset that her headline has been changed. The original headline is hard-hitting, doesn't pull any punches, and holds the Mayor accountable for a seemingly broken promise to voters. The original headline gets people to read the article, which will let them know what's really going on and knowledge is power. We know that top staff has left the Times after the endorsement of Kamala was vetoed by the Owner aka Billionaire PSS (with a public defense of the decision by his daughter Nika). I know that the Times sat on the Harvard Westlake Suicide Story (my first column for CityWatch) for HALF A YEAR. Meddling by PSS and/or his daughter Nika (who has likely influenced endorsement decisions at the Times) to kill the momentum on this story would be expected, totally not a surprise.
Where's the “abuse” (if we don't consider killing helpless healthy animals because of lack of concern for them by LA politicians, who would rather starve the department financially, to be abuse)? Here's some examples from the article: “In overcrowded shelters where dogs can go weeks without a walk and may live in feces-covered kennels, some animals start behaving poorly and suffer 'mental and emotional breakdown'....” Another example from the article: “...the chronically understaffed and underfunded shelters cannot meet their basic needs.” Even the spokesperson for the City Department (which is part of the Mayor Bass Administration, with the Mayor picking the General Manager and the Animal Services Commissioners) talks about an “overcrowding crisis” with “nowhere to house incoming dogs.” The article discusses “the lack of space”, “dogs...living in crates in hallways and staff rooms” and tells us that “Earlier this year at the City's West LA shelter, 2 puppies were housed in the room where animals are put to death.” (because of lack of space) Volunteers wrote an email to Mayor Bass with this line: “The result is a conveyor belt pace of killing happy, healthy dogs falsely labeled as unadoptable...”
More examples of abuse? A report by the highly respected Best Friends (which has years of experience dealing with LA City “shelters”) “described lengthy stays for dogs at the Chesterfield Square shelter, with little human interaction and possibly 'two weeks or more before they get any extended time outside of their kennels.” A more specific example from the Best Friends Report: “One dog named Olive Oil left her kennel only 14 times during a [roughly EIGHT MONTHS] stay...” The Best Friends Report “also noted that 'solid organic matter' is sometimes NOT removed from kennels and that some kennels were not cleaned beyond spraying them with water, WITH THE DOGS STILL INSIDE.” [emphasis added] “At the East Valley facility, a worker 'continuously' sprayed a...dog IN THE FACE while cleaning her kennel. 'Attempting to run to the back of the kennel, the dog fell repeatedly'...”
Even more examples of abuse? “Animal welfare consultant Kristen Hassen....said...that [the LA City Animal Services Department] is among the lowest-funded large shelter systems in the country. She said she witnessed 2 staff members...being responsible for feeding dogs in 275 kennels AS WELL AS cleaning the kennels....there is 'inconsistent cleaning and feeding' and 'ongoing illness' at the facility...”
Still more examples of abuse in this article? Yes, unfortunately. A dog that was taken out for 'enrichment' – either walked or taken to the playground – [ONLY] 10 times in his FIVE MONTHS at the...shelter.” [emphasis added]
The most important point made in the article and the one that is most damaging to Mayor Bass (besides the original headline). Best Friends is a wonderful organization that came into the City of LA years ago with Millions of Dollars, volunteers, and energy. They're an org from Utah, and they CHOSE the City of LA as a special project, even taking over an LA City Shelter (they no longer operate it), and they achieved wonderful results, and Mayor Garcetti was all too happy to take the credit. The article tells us that “In September, Best Friends announced it was withdrawing financial support to the City...” Best Friends said this about the Mayor Karen Bass Administration: “The current administration squandered the advantages it had inherited and did NOT invest in capacity building, foster programs, animal wellbeing, public and staff safety and customer service...”
(“The Angry Angeleno” is the nom de plume of Yuval Kremer. Yuval is a Registered Democrat; a Cali-Camp, Harvard-Westlake (pre-merger), USC, and Loyola Law School Alum; and a former ballot candidate for Mayor of LA (failing to prevent Mayor Garcetti's reelection) and LA County Supervisor (ran against Sheila Kuehl, Katy Yaroslavsky's former boss). The opinions expressed by Yuval are his and his alone (not those of CityWatchLA), but will likely be yours soon!)
