NYC Made Rapid Progress After Boks left; Maricopa Stats Disappear

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THIS IS AN AMMENDED POST, AND INCLUDES MARICOPA COUNTY

A tale of two cities since Boks left New York:

The first quarter returns, LAAS and NYC:
(The April numbers are not yet on the LAAS or NYC sites.):

In NYC, 430 fewer animals were killed than during the comparable period the year before. This was a 13.9% decrease in their number killed.

In Los Angeles, 177 fewer animals killed for a decrease of 8% killed.

Past 12 months:

NYC, 17,536 killed compared to last year's 19,873.

The 2,337 fewer animals killed means NYC kill numbers dropped 11.76% for the year, about what Stuckey was able to accomplish during his year at LAAS.

Just as Stuckey and Greenwalt did in LA before Boks came, NYC did after he left: saved thousands of lives.

In Los Angeles, it is a different story. Only 653 fewer cats and dogs were killed, for a kill number decrease of only 3.3%.
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To summarize, Boks leaves NYC and the kill numbers decrease by 12%.

He came to LA, and the kill numbers here decrease by only 3%.

Maybe if he left, LAAS's kill numbers would also go down 12%, which is about the percentage decrease for every year before he came. (11%-17% annually.)

In his May post about the April numbers, he said:

April 07 showed a 5.3% increase in the number of animals rescued by LA Animal Services (up from 3395 to 3577) compared to April 06. The continual increase in the number of animals coming into LA City Animal Care Centers demonstrates the need for widespread support of the California Healthy Pet Act.

In fact, there has been no "continual increase" in impounds. There has been a continual decrease in impound numbers for every year before he came here. Only since he has been here, has there been an increase. It happened on his watch and he is passing the buck to the state politicians. In other words, unless AB 1634 is passed, LAAS' numbers will go up every year from now on--leaving Ed off the hook.

He also said:

"LA Animal Services continues to lead the nation in returning lost pets to their frantic and grateful owners with a 1.2% increase Year to Date over last year (from 1385 to 1402). This rate is four times higher than any other large municipal program."

First of all, recognize the increased number returned was only 17 animals, not 170 or 1,700. Just 17 animals!

However, if you count the past 12 months, not just the past 4 months, the number of animals returned to owner actually decreased by 156 animals, or -3.4%.

This is what you can do with statistics. Select the months when you did well in one category, applaud your results, and then place an exclamation mark at the end of your sentence!!!! Do not mention the months you did poorly, or the categories in which you did poorly.

He then said the rate of RTO is four times higher than any other large municipal program.

I don't know where he got this number from. He does not say which cities he is comparing LAAS to, or their numbers. The only large city that lists returns to owner on their website is NYC. Indeed, they are doing a poor job.

NYC RTO figures have been getting worse and worse over the entire past 5 years, including the time he was in charge. It was 1,717 animals RTO in 2002-2003, and it was down to 1,274 animals RTO for this past year; Ed's numbers were right in the middle.

However, the 2004 Audit report of Maricopa Animal Care and Control, lists a RTOwner rate of 11.0%. For the past 12 months, LAAS has averaged 9.5%. Unless Maricopa's rates dropped to 2.5%, LAAS cannot have 4 times greater rate than any other large municipal shelter in the country.

He plain flat out lied again!

The 2004 Maricopa audit states there were discrepancies between the department's internal statistics and what they reported to other agencies. Boks' successor admits this error and states she will fix it.

She also agrees with the Audit that COMPLETE statistics will be published on the department's website.

But, the Maricopa statistics disappeared in December of 2005 from its website--the same month Boks started at LAAS (He actually came 2 weeks early before his official January 3, 2006 start date.)

He probably called his friends there to remove the stats because they show Boks adoptions were down in 2003, and the euthanasia rate was 51%!!! This 51% kill rate was attained after 5 years of his no-kill efforts!! The stats would also show the 11% RTO number for Maricopa in 2003, as opposed to LAAS' 9.5% for the past 6 months.

How on earth can anyone believe anything Boks says?
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