Pax Knaana

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The blog wars may be at an end with the appointment of Debbie Knaan as Assistant General Manager of LAAS. Debbie, who has deep roots in both government and the animal activist communities, seems to be an acceptable choice for both. We will wait to see if she can influence ADL. Of course there are others hoping that Debbie may eventually replace Ed Boks as General Manager in a bloodless coup.

I have been told by informants in the Mayor’s Office (I have as many spies as ADL--maybe they are the same people causing trouble.) that no good deed goes unpunished, and that my status with City government has neither grown nor been diminished by my defense of Boks, LAAS and the City. I have been told that Jim Blackman views all animal activists as a bit looney and that all that we say—and I include myself in that we—is ignored both by he and Villaraigosa. I guess I cannot count on becoming Villaraigosa’s Chief of Staff when he replaces the Governator in 2010.

However, my spirited defense of LAAS and Boks has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated by Boks himself. He wrote the beautiful thank you note below.

Now I feel free to become a real journalist. In the future I will be covering a wider range of LA and California animal issues honestly and accurately.

Lastly, I want to say I am and always have been an enthusiastic supporter of Nathan Winograd. He once expressed interest in creating a super-LASPCA that would work hand-in-hand with LAAS so that both together could attain No-Kill for Los Angeles.

The successes of San Francisco as well as Nathan’s Tompkins County depend on having a large private shelter where otherwise moribund animals could be transferred and saved.

Local rescue groups will not support this kind of entity—I do not believe—because to them, it would be a matter of robbing Peter to pay Paul and they are Peter. Yet we need to recognize the reality that only a small percentage (13%) of LAAS animals are rescued by local non-profits, and a well-financed and high-profile Winograd-chiefed shelter could markedly outperform the status-quo. (30% in SF and TC vs. 13%).

This could result in a live-release percentage of 75% as enjoyed by San Francisco’s Animal Care and Control vs. the 53% of LAAS, which is already the highest percentage of saves of any of any major city in the country. The combined save rate might approach 90%, depending on the success of Nathan's shelter.

I call upon the well-heeled members of the LA animal community step up to the plate and create this life-saving institution.

From Ed Boks:

Ed:

How do I begin to THANK YOU for all you have endured this past year? Too be sure, your willingness to endure the wrath of the uninformed and malicious radicals has been instrumental in securing the future success of the deparment.

I want to thank-you for all the effort you expended to defend the department this year and the sacrifices you made to do so. You went to war and put up with a lot of flack.

Thank your for your support despite all the noise and controversy. It's been an "interesting" year on that front, but I know better days are yet to come thanks to you! This is something I would say to the entire world!

Ed (Boks)