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The top official for the Los Angeles Animal Services explained Monday how certain animals are authorized to be euthanized under a new plan after a shelter employee was mauled by a pit bull mix at the Harbor Shelter in May.
Staycee Dains, who was appointed as the LA Animal Services General Manager nearly a year ago, said while she understands putting down some of the animals “may not be everything that everyone wants to see happen,” shortening the timeline for when animals are euthanized is a temporary policy change to get the shelters back to a state of safely operating.
“The animals that are authorized for euthanasia that are on that list are animals that we cannot safely care for anymore, and what they need is to not be in our care. They need an adopter, a rescue or foster care, but these are animals that we have are no longer safe for us to house,” Dains said.
After the shelter employee was severely injured in the attack, LA Animal Services replaced their “red list” — which gave dogs a three week timeline to be euthanized if they had medical or behavioral issues — with a new “72 hour” list. Now, shelter dogs have 72 hours to be rescued from an authorized rescue group if they present dangerous behaviors — before being euthanized.
The six city-run shelters have more than 1,400 dogs but have space for only half of them, forcing some animals to double up in kennels or be placed in crates.
“There are definitely animals that can have amazing interactions out in a play yard or a walk, but we also have to be really conscientious for that animal to live in its kennel for a week or two weeks never getting out.” the director said. “We want to save lives absolutely, but we cannot force animals through unremitting suffering to do that.”
Volunteers, staff and rescue groups have also complained the shelter doesn’t provide any written guidelines for their policies, which they said leads to confusion.
In response, Dains said a “much more formulated plan” is in the works.
“We hope to create [a plan] in the coming weeks or months, those directions will be shared with our volunteers and community members,” she said.
Dains, who finally spoke with NBC4 after canceling previously planned interviews, admitted there will not be a simple solution to solving the overcrowding crisis.
“I think our community has a lot of work to do, the individuals in this community, we all have opportunities to do better, and so does Animal Services,” Dain said. “We have a lot of different ways we can do better, and we are. I know we have been efforting since I started.”
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