Mayor Bass' budget proposes cuts to troubled LA Animal Services
As part of Mayor Karen Bass' plan to brace the city for a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall, the troubled Los Angeles Animal Services will be among the many departments forced to lay off employees.
According to the mayor's proposal, the department would be forced to lay off 62 staffers, eliminate 49 vacant positions and cut 10% of its budget, roughly $6.4 million.
During his presentation to the council members in March, City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo described layoffs as "inevitable" with 3,500 positions on the chopping block. Bass' proposed budget includes 1,647 layoffs and the elimination of 1,074 vacant positions, which has frustrated advocates who have criticized animal services in the past few years.
"Removing employees is absolutely ludicrous," animal rights advocate Rebecca Corry said.
Corry has run the Stand Up for Pits Foundation for the last 15 years. Her nonprofit delivers food to shelters and pays for veterinarian services. She also created a documentary highlighting the issues that have plagued LA Animal Services in the last few years, including the high euthanasia rates and overcrowded shelters.
"We should be adding 200 positions," she said. "As a charity that has been serving this community for 15 years, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies and helping with angel grants and offering spay/neuter and offering solutions, I'm literally being ignored by Karen Bass."
In 2023, the former General Manager of Animal Services Staycee Dains said many of the "animals are suffering in our shelters, and so are those who care for them."
"We keep animals in crates in hallways for days, weeks, or months at a time, " Dains said. "Staff and volunteers are injured by animals subject to fear, anxiety, and stress. Our caregivers know that the animals receive substandard care, which harms their mental well-being. We cannot allow the suffering to continue."
Dains was placed on administrative leave last August and eventually resigned as general manager on Nov. 30, 2024.
"I want Mayor Bass to open her ears and pay attention to what we're saying and the cries of the animal welfare community," Corry said.
