There’s breathtaking confusion (as always) coming out of the LA County shelter system… 30 minutes ago we called on 2 dogs: A pittie that was impounded at the Downey shelter that I’d photographed on 2/23/12; and then Tilly, the dog belonging to the homeless woman that is noted in the prior post before this one. Regarding the Downey dog, the phone operator said that he came in on 2/5/12 and was killed on 2/8/12. As I noted, that’s impossible, because I took his picture on 2/23/12 and his kennel card (at that time, and shown above) stated that he was impounded on 2/17/12. WHAT IN THE EFF IS GOING ON WITH THIS HORRENDOUS COUNTY SYSTEM???

Secondly… Tilly apparently already has a CTA on her file and is set to be picked up by a private adopter tomorrow! This flies in the face of everything that Shannon/we were told yesterday, as the Carson shelter staff stated that Tilly was “rescue only” and gave Shannon the opportunity to place an IP on Tilly’s file. They also printed out her kennel card, as well as a lengthy bill detailing what it would take to regain possession of her. At no time did anyone sitting behind that front desk say anything about any of what I just learned over the phone. And it has been done and locked in for numerous days, because that explains why Tilly was spayed, which never made sense to me until now.

So I’m left with 2 conclusions… That front desk attendant is either a blatant asshole, or they are so incredibly incompetent at their job that they can’t even do the minimum amount of work that it takes to be a front desk person. This type of unreliable bullshit happens SO MUCH at the Carson shelter. The miscommunication is rampant and in my opinion is a reflection of the horrendous management. The careless work-style undoubtedly attributes to a continued cycle of death for an endless number of animals that may have had a different outcome otherwise… We called on 2 flippin’ dogs! Imagine the tales that I’d actually have to tell if I consistently called on every dog that I’ve photographed.

While at the shelter yesterday I met Shannon, a homeless woman, who had both of her leashed Pit Bulls illegally shot by the police when their homeless encampment was raided last week… The “raid” had nothing to do with Shannon or her dogs. Unfortunately, 1 of her dogs was killed after it was shot in the chest. The other (Tilly) ran away and is now impounded at the Carson shelter. While there, the shelter wouldn’t let Shannon see her. The staff has marked Tilly as “rescue only” and they want close to $500 in fees from Shannon before even entertaining the thought of allowing this woman to get her dog back. Can we raise this money for her? I’m going to try…

If you’d like to donate: Please go HERE. If we can get a rescue involved then I’m assuming that the fees would be much less, since they can’t transfer penalty fees onto whomever else that would want to save this dog. Regardless, whichever way becomes necessary, I’d like to have an amount that can be designated for helping them. If they need the money for the shelter fees, fine. If not, and we can find another way to get Tilly saved through rescue, I’d still like to give them the funds that are raised so that we can help them in that small way. This woman was a nice person who clearly loves her dogs. She is still grieving heavily and rode her bike to the shelter to try and see Tilly. Thank you to anyone that does help…

Replace LA County director, Marcia Mayeda.
Replace shelter manager, Gil Moreno.

The subject matter of this video is clearly outlined in this document. The breaking down of actual numbers begins around 3:10 in the video. Not only do I want to kick-start another round of discussion regarding who is actually running our LA County shelters, but I also (and just as importantly) want to inspire people to do these same types of public records requests for your local shelters, wherever you are in the country. Shine light on these tragic realities.

“The people who are making this world worse are not taking a day off… How can I? Light up the darkness.” ~ Bob Marley

Yesterday I attended the town hall that was put on by the Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) General Manager, Brenda Barnette. This was regarding the confusion over the leaked changes being made to the New Hope coordinator positions. I admittedly know less about the city side, in comparison to county, but wanted to attend anyways because I have numerous friends that seem to be on both sides of the issue. People have been up in arms for days over these changes, and what got my attention was some of the attempts at justifying why what was being done is being done. Barnette perplexingly took public comments BEFORE laying out her version of the proposed plans, a move which made absolutely no sense to me, and still doesn’t. People were furious, and confused, and that doesn’t make for a good mix.

^Here is 80+ minutes of audio. I began recording AFTER the initial public comments, many of which were very good. I apologize for the poor audio quality, I’d arrived late and was stuck at the back of the room…

Anyways, some of the things that were said by Barnette kind of rubbed me the wrong way. She explained away the fact that on 5/1, the very day that these changes were to go into affect, that the coordinators phone lines were coincidentally down because of a “glitch in the system.” I don’t know, I certainly don’t buy that. Another thing that she said (in response to certain rescuer’s passionate pleas of support for their coordinators) was to compare these specific New Hope folks to “personalized shoppers.” To me, that was kind of trivializing genuine relationships (and expected levels of proven compassion) that have been established over a certain extended period of time. To think that that will be seamlessly swapped out is a bit farfetched, and that kind of stuff DOES matter. And why didn’t she meet with the actual New Hope coordinators individually, or as a group, prior to assessing the worthiness of the position? They were apparently totally out of the loop. That seems beyond odd… But most notable, for me, was her poorly framed comments about Pit Bulls. For instance, when Barnette was speaking about Best Friends and referencing their newly pulled animals from last weekend’s Super Adoption, she said this… “They might have a lot of really cute ones up there now. The last time that I was there they just had a lot of Pit Bulls.” Tone missing for added effect. Minutes later she followed that up with, “The last thing we need is more Pit Bulls.” This seems to mirror some of the comments coming from others on the inside, one being a quote that a recent article attributed to a “key source”…

The adoptions from the Best Friends shelter have been less than stellar … and I think that is because the agreement only allows them to take the “leftovers” … meaning animals that are not adopted by the public or taken by rescue groups … so that means they are left with a whole lot of Pit Bulls, Chihuahuas and tabby cats … making it more difficult for rescues to get animals out of the shelter would leave more “desirable” animals to go to Best Friends and thus improve their adoption numbers to justify a private group taking more responsibility by doing better.

^Now I don’t know who said that, but what I do know is that it’s not a very fair comment. I don’t personally have an opinion on the behind the scenes dynamics regarding LAAS and Best Friends. But this quote insinuates that there is some shenanigans going on, which again, I don’t cosign. My whole thing is, isn’t one of the pillars of the problem HOW PIT BULLS ARE ACTIVELY PERCEIVED BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC?? So when the people in the positions to bring forth this NKLA movement are deeming them as “undesirable,” well, that does a certain level of irreparable harm in and of itself. In my opinion, if they do legitimately intend to get to “No Kill,” they’re going to have to find a way to genuinely translate the many wonderful truths and attributes of Pit Bulls over to the indoctrinated portion of the public, instead of speaking (and feeling) of them as if they are 2nd class (dog) citizens… Because the reality is, Pit Bulls aren’t going anywhere, nor should they ever have to go anywhere. This should be a multifaceted effort that started yesterday. At the same time: If this last quote is in any way prophetic, it would imply that rescue groups are being shouldered out so that more “adoptable” dogs can make their way to the privatized shelter(s), which would then also imply that many of the “unadoptable” dogs (i.e. Pit Bulls, Chihuahuas) would continue to be funneled down to the remaining kill shelters, possibly at a more egregious rate. I say egregious because the dynamic between “privatized” and “public” shelters may soon shift… That would leave less public space for more “unadoptable” types, and yet the rates of intake aren’t declining… Again, I’m not saying this is what is going to happen. I’m just speaking as if whomever stated that quote knows something that we don’t. Time will certainly tell…

Lastly, I want to give credit where credit is due… At least Brenda Barnette held something like this. It was intense at times, and she stood in and faced the firing squad people and heard their concerns (whether she listened is still up for debate). All I know is that Marcia Mayeda (from LA County) would never hold anything like this. So for that, Barnette gets commended from me…

The harsh reality of Devore is that all of these dogs pictured in this video will likely be dead in just a matter of days. The photographs were shot on 4/13. There are no kennel cards anywhere on the premises, which means that I had no way of aligning the ID numbers with the faces, embedding my customary tag onto the pictures. Some dogs wear a 3 digit number around their neck, most don’t. What does it mean? I have no idea. You have the option of picking up a sheet at the front desk which shows a smattering of cage numbers, maybe a third of which have corresponding “3 digit numbers.” Nowhere on this sheet do they opt to list any of the corresponding ID numbers. The sheet also fails to list the majority of the cages, as well as the majority of the dogs. Even if the sheet was properly handled, I was told that they change dog cages so often that 1 days sheet doesn’t even match the next days. Management seems pretty brazen there, ignoring the minimal sheltering laws and essentially daring people to do something about it. I noticed a pattern of excusing themselves from having to spay or neuter some of the dogs that go out through “rescue.” It’s definitely freezing up there at night. Yet they don’t accept blanket donations, even though numerous organizations have literally begged the staff to take them. They say it’s a “safety hazard.” Sounds to me like they just don’t want to make any type of an effort to do that laundry.

If you see a face that you cannot live without, please call the shelter immediately (909-887-8055).
In order to attempt to match a possible face with an actual ID number:
Check the “Adoptable” section of their website…
Check the “Lost” section of their website…

I’ve written about these 5 before… They are the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and they are solely responsible for supporting (or replacing) current LA County killing dungeon shelter director, Marcia Mayeda.

I write this article because 2012 is an election year, and because 3 of them are currently up for re-election. Unfortunately, 2 of them (Ridley-Thomas, Knabe) are running UNOPPOSED. Michael Antonovich is being challenged by only 1 person, Raj Pal Kahlon of Palmdale. Fact: No sitting LA County Supervisor has been denied re-election since 1980. The election process is nonpartisan but the candidates are required to get a majority (51%) of the vote in order to win outright and avoid a runoff in November. Since the passing in 2002 of “Measure B,” no supervisor can serve more than 3 consecutive 4 year terms. This forces Gloria Molina & Zev Yaroslavsky out in 2014.

If Marcia Mayeda is to ever be replaced, these are the individuals that will need to ultimately do it. If they refuse, which they have up until this point, then they’d need replaced themselves. Get familiar…

This is Gloria Medina. She represents the 1st district, which includes Azusa, Baldwin Park, East Los Angeles, Pomona, West Covina. She has been a member of the Board of Supervisors since 1991 and is now due to be termed out in 2014. You can currently email her at molina@bos.lacounty.gov

This is Mark Ridley-Thomas. He represents the 2nd district, which includes Carson, Compton, Culver City, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, South Los Angeles. He has been a member of the Board of Supervisors since 2008 and is running UNOPPOSED this election year. You can currently email him at markridley-thomas@bos.lacounty.gov

This is Zev Yaroslavsky. He represents the 3rd district, which includes Agoura Hills, Beverly Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, San Fernando, Santa Monica, West Hollywood. He has been a member of the Board of Supervisors since 1994 and is now due to be termed out in 2014. You can currently email him at zev@bos.lacounty.gov

This is Don Knabe. He represents the 4th district, which includes Diamond Bar, Downey, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, San Pedro, Torrance, Whittier. He has been a member of the Board of Supervisors since 1997 and is running UNOPPOSED this election year. You can currently email him at don@bos.lacounty.gov

This is Michael Antonovich. He represents the 5th district, which includes Arcadia, Burbank, Glendale, Lancaster, Palmdale, Pasadena, Santa Clarita, West Covina. He has been a member of the Board of Supervisors since 1980 and is currently running against Palmdale business owner Raj Pal Kahlon. If he is victorious he will be due to be termed out in 2016. You can currently email him at fifthdistrict@lacbos.org

Click here for more information on this issue.
The numbers to call are:
916-651-4011
916-651-4018
916-651-4027
916-651-4003

I first visited the Carson shelter back in April of 2011. It was at that time that I took pictures of their Pit Bulls and then began networking them online. One of the dogs that I photographed on that first day was an extremely shy and depressed pit-mix named Coffee. Someone online had expressed interest in her, and I began making calls on Coffee’s behalf, relaying that interest to the shelter staff, leaving my number, etc. Days after my initial visit I received a phone call for what I thought was going to be Coffee’s temperament test results. Instead, it was the “rescue” coordinator, who immediately started asking questions about who I was and what my intentions were. There was no hello, no sharing of the results, just confirming that it was actually me who answered and then launching into a full scale investigation. I immediately felt as though I was on trial, nice impression. She essentially attempted to tell me that I wasn’t allowed at their facility to take pictures, and if I wanted to take a picture of a certain dog, that I had to clear it with the office first. Obviously this led to me pushing back, and we continued having quite the lengthy conversation, until she presented the option of voicing my concerns to the shelter manager directly. Yes, please. I wrote up a decent sized email that introduced myself, as well as contained 3 or 4 different concerns that I had and sent it off to him. After waiting around for 3 weeks to hear back, I finally received a reply from Gil. He asked me to come in and meet with him, I did. These are the audio notes that I recorded that day, after the meeting…

Here’s a quick key as to what was being discussed and when…
00:50 ~ Purpose of the meeting
03:33 ~ Pit Bulls
05:40 ~ Coffee
09:15 ~ Phone policy
12:25 ~ Concerns about me
16:50 ~ Dealing with the Pit Bulls
18:50 ~ What was established

Coffee, the dog pictured, was called “extremely human aggressive” by the shelter staff. She received an “F” on her temperament test. She was then deemed “rescue only.” I disputed this assessment, as it was totally the opposite of what I had witnessed myself. Fortunately, a rescue did assist with the interested party and Coffee was pulled. After leaving the shelter she received veterinary care and it was then discovered that she had 2 liters of urine backed up in her system. This was drained, and she was immediately placed into a foster home WITH other dogs. She got along perfectly with everyone. She’s since been adopted by the brother of her foster mom and is currently living on the beach and relishing the fact that she is part of his family. She gets along wonderfully with other dogs, children, you name it and Coffee has happily embraced it. She is extremely lucky. So many “Coffee’s” are labeled and put to death. That’s what this shelter does and her story is just 1 example of it.

Why am I now putting out this video? These audio notes were recorded BEFORE this website was even created. I’ve since went through almost a year of witnessing wrongs that keep on coming at a rapid pace. Many on the staff at Carson have developed very negative opinions of me and my work. That’s now a given. But (back then) my opinion towards them was far more centric in approach, as I genuinely wanted to work “with” these individuals in order to help save these Pit Bulls lives. I had a track record of working “with” OC, working “with” East Valley. We certainly didn’t always agree on how things went down, but I was still speaking my mind and they weren’t necessarily scared of that. The dialogue was open. With Carson, not so much. I hope that this video displays the philosophy that has (imo) always been present there, the way of thinking, the way of operating. That’s why I now want people to hear my insights on that very day, as it preempts all that has since happened, and follows all that had already happened long before I was even doing this or aware of the problems…