.
Accordingto the provisions of PenalCode 597, Mason should have been given notice that he could request a postsizure hearing, as well as information stating where all his cats were located In addition, this information must be made available to the public for three years after the impoundment ends. Animal Services has denied Jensen's request for public documents requesting exactly this information.
The City Attorney must supply evidence that Mason's cats did not receive veterinary care, and that care for which Mason has records, was provided by a veterinarian now working for the City who refused--allegedly--to give Mason all records of treatment provided by her.
Penal Code 597.1 (http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/597.1.html) This is the code covering the failure to provide veterinary care, which Boks stated was the reason the animals were impounded and several killed.
However, Mason was charged with violation of 597b, depriving animal of food, water, or shelter; causing unnecessary suffering.
Penal Code 597 covers animal abuse and cruelty. This is what it says:
(a) Every owner, driver, or keeper of any animal who permits the animal to be in any building, enclosure, lane, street, square, or lot of any city, county, city and county, or judicial district without proper care and attention is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any peace officer, humane society officer, or animal control officer shall take possession of the stray or abandoned animal and shall provide care and treatment for the animal until the animal is deemed to be in suitable condition to be returned to the owner.
When the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that very prompt action is required to protect the health or safety of the animal or the health or safety of others, the officer shall immediately seize the animal and comply with subdivision (f). In all other cases, the officer shall comply with the provisions of subdivision (g). ---
(b) The officer may likewise take charge of any animal, including a dog or cat, that by reason of lameness, sickness, feebleness, or neglect, is unfit for the labor it is performing, or that in any other manner is being cruelly treated, and provide care and treatment for the animal until it is deemed to be in a suitable condition to be returned to the owner. When the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that very prompt action is required to protect the health or safety of an animal or the health or safety of others, the officer shall immediately seize the animal and comply with subdivision (f). In all other cases, the officer shall comply with subdivision (g). ---
(d) An animal control agency that takes possession of an animal pursuant to subdivision (c) shall keep records of the whereabouts of the animal from the time of possession to the end of the animal's impoundment, and those records shall be available for inspection by the public upon request for three years after the date the animal's impoundment ended. ---
(f) Whenever an officer authorized under this section seizes or impounds an animal based on a reasonable belief that prompt action is required to protect the health or safety of the animal or the health or safety of others, the officer shall, prior to the commencement of any criminal proceedings authorized by this section, provide the owner or keeper of the animal, if known or ascertainable after reasonable investigation, with the opportunity for a postseizure hearing to determine the validity of the seizure or impoundment, or both. ---
(1) The agency shall cause a notice to be affixed to a conspicuous place where the animal was situated or personally deliver a notice of the seizure or impoundment, or both, to the owner or keeper within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. The notice shall include all of the following:
(A) The name, business address, and telephone number of the officer providing the notice. ---
(B) A description of the animal seized, including any identification upon the animal.
(C) The authority and purpose for the seizure, or impoundment, including the time, place, and circumstances under which the animal was seized.
(D) A statement that, in order to receive a postseizure hearing, the owner or person authorized to keep the animal, or his or her agent, shall request the hearing by signing and returning an enclosed declaration of ownership or right to keep the animal to the agency providing the notice within 10 days, including weekends and holidays, of the date of the notice. The declaration may be returned by personal delivery or mail.
(E) A statement that the cost of caring for and treating any animal properly seized under this section is a lien on the animal and that the animal shall not be returned to the owner until the charges are paid, and that failure to request or to attend a scheduled hearing shall result in liability for this cost.
(2) The postseizure hearing shall be conducted within 48 hours of the request, excluding weekends and holidays. The seizing agency may authorize its own officer or employee to conduct the hearing if the hearing officer is not the same person who directed the seizure or impoundment of the animal and is not junior in rank to that person. The agency may utilize the services of a hearing officer
(k) Upon the conviction of a person charged with a violation of this section, or Section 597 or 597a, all animals lawfully seized and impounded with respect to the violation shall be adjudged by the court to be forfeited and shall thereupon be transferred to the impounding officer or appropriate public entity for proper adoption or other disposition.
A person convicted of a violation of this section shall be personally liable to the seizing agency for all costs of impoundment from the time of seizure to the time of proper disposition. Upon conviction, the court shall order the convicted person to make payment to the appropriate public entity for the costs incurred in the housing, care, feeding, and treatment of the seized or impounded animals. Each person convicted in connection with a particular animal may be held jointly and severally liable for restitution for that particular animal. The payment shall be in addition to any other fine or sentence ordered by the court.
(l) It shall be the duty of all peace officers, humane society officers, and animal control officers to use all currently acceptable methods of identification, both electronic and otherwise, to determine the lawful owner or caretaker of any seized or impounded animal. It shall also be their duty to make reasonable efforts to notify the owner or caretaker of the whereabouts of the animal and any procedures available for the lawful recovery of the animal and, upon the owner's and caretaker's initiation of recovery procedures, retain custody of the animal for a reasonable period of time to allow for completion of the recovery process.
3 comments:
The ACTF doesn't have the faintest idea what they are doing. They are not Humane Officers. They are just animal control officers. They have absolutely no training or education whatsoever. They should not be going out on any calls until they know what they're doing. They will make a mockery out of LA when they are on Animal Planet.
As goofy as it sounds, I make these mental comparisons with what I see on humane law enforcment shows, and what I hear and have experienced dealing with LAAS.
It's pretty sad. L.A. is such a rich city, and in many ways I think we're pretty progressive. But we're such dismal failures in animal services. With some staff exceptions, everyone at LAAS is so third-rate. Boks literally excused 1,155 Hayden Act violations by saying "Our staff is too dumb to fill out this computer form correctly" -- over 1,100 times in one year!
Beyond the fact that it's so pathetic that we can't find top-grade, intelligent and caring professionals to serve the animals who have to depend on us, rather than a bunch of third-rate media whores -- it's also just embarrassing.
Truthfully, I think Animal Planet is too smart to come here, unless they're looking to do an expose.
An attorney needs to sue the shit out of the City. Maybe that will make them wake up and follow the law.
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