Time to Welcome the ADLLA Back?

It appears that ADLLA is going positive. That is very good news. There is plenty of time in the future to attack Ed Boks if the killing does not continue to drop as rapidly as now.

Part of the drop now is from sheer will on Ed's part and giving LAAS a better self-image and enthusiasm. This might allow the kill rate to remain at at 30+ % less a year, so at the end of calendar 2006, 4,000 animals may be saved, maybe more.

Further than that will require a thorough remaking of the department and unambiguous and improved policies and procedures.

The Commission under the excellent leadership of Kathy Riordan and the others will continue to push Ed to make changes they know have to be made as well as to guide him through the bureaucratic maze.

The rescue and humane community will also continue to push for reform. LAAS will, for a time be transformed by its new self-image, but until most of the employees convert to that positivity, the need for radical change should be forced from within and without.

I hope the rescue and humane communities maintain their watchfulness and pushiness. This change would never have occurred without pressures from many directions, not the least of which was from the ADLLA.

There is still a great need for an AGM who can take on the bureaucratic and paperwork responsibilities from Ed and allow him to devote full-time to examining the LAAS personnel and operations. Who this AGM should be I have no idea. It may be that a spokesperson from the community should do the job. It may be someone with shelter operations experience should do the job. I don't know.

The numbers will tell the story.

As soon as I get around to it, I will remove all negative references to the ADL. They still have my heart.

My own wish is that Ed and Nathan Winograd can put aside their differences and work to duplicate the San Francisco model of a close municipal/SPCA model that has been so successful there.

Nathan first suggested this model two years ago and indicated interest then of coming to LA. However, he has since found a new mission, which may be a higher and more powerful force for change in the future. Still, he may be convinced to come here if someone can create an idea of combining his old vision with his new mission.

This vision would bring all the disparate rescue/humane groups together under one roof instead of a hundred roofs yet allow them to maintain their separate existence AND access to much greater resources.

Good luck to all of us.