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According to the City Budget, in 2007-2008, various LAAS S/N programs caused about 46,000 sterilization surgeries. There is no information about mortality rates at contractors such as Porter Pet or Noreda. This fiscal year is estimated to produce 49,000 S/N surgeries, which is almost double the 2003 rate.
Notice that though 2007-08 S/N surgeries were at an all-time high, this year the number of impounds has increased dramatically, and may equal the catastrophic 2003 numbers.
Lesson? S/N surgeries are not the panacea EVERYONE assumes.
Impounds are up dramatically this year. Why?
Boks claims it is due to increased foreclosures but cannot prove it.
Far more likely is that Boks' policy of turning away owner turn-ins and decreased field impounds means more unsterilized cats and dogs were on the streets and in homes, which has generated the bumper crop of animals we see as impounds today.
That is, in an effort to make his numbers look good for the past 2 years, especially refusing kittens between May and October of last year, has caused the extraordinary increase in impounds this year. Boks has created his own mess and wants to blame it on external forces rather than his own policies and management.
Unfortunately, those animals that would have been impounded and killed last year are being impounded and killed this year.
I also note that the food budget has not been restored. Feed for the animals, despite the increased number of impounds, was cut from $529,000 to $429,000. I find this disheartening. This is the only expense item other than salaries that was cut.
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"Far more likely is that Boks' policy of turning away owner turn-ins and decreased field impounds means more unsterilized cats and dogs were on the streets and in homes, which has generated the bumper crop of animals we see as impounds today."
ReplyDeleteThis statement is saying that no matter how many s/n were done, it was overruled by the above reasons.
"Lesson? S/N surgeries are not the panacea EVERYONE assumes.'
And in the same breath you are saying that s/n is not working after you gave the reasons as to why it can't work in LA.
This is confusing to me. If there were no reasons as to why there are so many more impounds, that would make sense. Correct me if I am wrong, but how does one expect s/n to work when the turn aways, unaltered turn aways, are such as you describe. Your reasoning doesn't make sense to me, please explain.
And do you know if there is an increase in population during this time? Based on the population of LA, 49,000 surgeries don't seem like very many anyway. Had the number of impounds been going down the past few years until Boks screwed everything up? Do you know the impound numbers from 15-20 years ago? And do you know any info if service calls are going up or going down? There are many more factors than you are stating that determine whether s/n is effective.
Can you explain why other places are experiencing a decline in their impounds after installing successful s/n programs? I can explain, Boks is not there.
It seems, from your explanation, that no amount of s/n will work in LA as long as certain events are taking place, the turning away of owners with unaltered animals, lack of field service picking up animals, etc. Your relating more s/n to the increased impounds doesn't quite make sense. Could you elaborate a little more on how you reached this conclusion. Thanks
If the city wants to make a dent in the unwanted cat population, they must accept all cats that people don't want. Better they be dead than making six more babies each which will have to be killed the next season. If they could at least neuter all cats dropped off at the shelter and send them to sanctuaries, rescuers, anywhere, that'd prevent this huge increase in kittens.
ReplyDeleteThe dept went ten steps backwards with the refusal policy. Boks knew ahead of time that people are not responsible enough to keep the kittens, neuter then adopt them out. They just let them reproduce, probably dumped them out on the street too. I guess he didn't t hink he'd be here for a third year.