Another 5th District Candidate Slams Boks












L.A. City Council candidate stands up for animals: “Ed Boks’ hiring was a mistake.”

by Kate Woodviolet,

Candidate David Vahedi is seen here with wife Karli and adopted rescue dogs Stofer and Jackson. It's unusual to get a straight answer from a politician, much less a candidate running for office. Sadly, it's even more unusual to find a politician who's willing to talk about a subject close to many people's hearts – the issue of animal care in our city.

That's why it was surprising that David Vahedi, candidate for City Council in the Fifth District, not only gave me time during his campaign to discuss several animal issues, but answered candidly my questions about frequently untouchable subjects, including the role of City government in animal welfare. He was blunt about some of L.A.’s failings.
Kate Woodviolet: Why do you make it a point to talk about animal issues?

David Vahedi: I think it’s the moral and right thing to do. KW: What, in your opinion, are the main problems facing animals in Los Angeles?

DV: There’s a lack of willingness [on the part] of Animal Services to do even the simplest things to avoid destroying animals. For example, the city still does not advertise in the Yellow Pages under pet stores. Many other examples exist, including LAPD’s unwillingness to take dog fighting on as a serious crime issue, [which also results in] many dogs released by gang members into the streets, un-neutered, when they do not fight.

I was surprised by the candor of Vahedi's response to questions regarding the failures of City government in the area of animal care and control.

KW: L.A. has two distinct governmental animal care and control entities: L.A. Animal Services for the city proper, which falls under the authority of the Mayor and the L.A. City Council; and the L.A. County Department of Animal Care and Control, for county and unincorporated areas, which is overseen by the County Board of Supervisors.

Both of these departments have experienced their share of controversy, including a recent petition of no confidence against LAAS General Manager Ed Boks signed by over fifty percent of LAAS workers; and several pending lawsuits against LACDACC and its director , Marcia Mayeda.

What, in your opinion, are the most pressing issues that need to be resolved, both with LAAS and LACDACC?

DV: Ed Boks’ hiring was a mistake. Own up to it and get him out. But problems also exist in management other than with Boks that must be addressed. I’m not as informed as I would like to be with LACDCC and as such I’ll reserve comment on that for now.

KW: As an L.A. resident, I see people walking dogs off-leash frequently, which is a violation of the law, and presents a danger to both dogs and humans. What would you do to strengthen leash laws and make sure they’re enforced?

DV: Similar to my proposal for graffiti and littering, mobile phone pictures can be uploaded to LAPDONLINE.ORG. If we know where [the owners] live, a citation can then be mailed.
But bottom line, I have seen LAPD units not on call drive by unleashed animals and not stop. We have to convince LAPD of the importance of enforcing leash laws.

Part 2: Vahedi is unsparing in his assessment of recent animal-related controversies including anti-Pit Bull legislation, and he gets honest with animal care activists.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention, Ed. I'm certainly doing my best to get animal issues out there to the general public via Examiner.com. The more us who speak up, the faster things will change.

    I enjoy your blog very much.

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  2. Councilmembers cannot hire or fire anyone. Only the Mayor can. Already quite a few councilmembers have contacted the Mayor and asked him to fire Boks.The Mayor refuses. This councilmember can't do anything the others haven't tried.

    Vote for him anyway. I'm so glad Jack Weiss will be gone. Weiss never did anything for animals. He in fact supported Jewish people who slit the throats of chickens in his district. He told the police to do nothing to the people who killed the chickens even though city municipal code states that it's illegal.

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  3. Thank you Kate Woodviolet for giving a voice to those without one!

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  4. What do we have here? Sounds like mixed in with the Liberals in your blog, Ed, is an Anti-Semite who finds Kosher-kill a little too graphic for his(her) taste.

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  5. We do have a problem here.

    Both candidate have a reasonable pro animal record and Vahedi says the right things that the animal community wants to hear about Boks, which Koretz does not say.

    But, Vahedi has little backing and almost all of his support is from home owners associations. That is, he is a Republican like Moore.

    Paul has tremendous backing and is guaranteed one of the top 2 places-I think. A vote for Vahedi may hurt our most viable pro animal candidate.

    Therefore, I would vote for and back Koretz.

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  6. #4

    What Commenter #2 is referring to is not kosher slaughter (which is just as inhumane as regular old Gentile slaughter) but Kapparot. According to a press release from United Poultry Concerns:

    "Every year for six days before Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement on October 2) some Jews perform the ritual "Kapparot." Kapparot is a custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl. The fowl is held above the person's head and swung in a circle three times while certain words are spoken. The fowl is then slaughtered so that the person may have a good, peaceful life. Sometimes the chickens are given to the poor as food but unfortunately the chickens are not always cared for or killed humanely."

    As the press release goes on to point out:

    "In Los Angeles, California ritual animal sacrifice of any kind is illegal under Municipal Code SEC. 53.67"

    That includes Jews, practitioners of Santeria, whatever... Jack Weiss's job was to support the laws in L.A., when apparently what he did instead was to pander to one of his main constituencies in defiance of the law (not to mention basic humane treatment of animals).

    Ironically, now Jack Weiss is running for City Attorney. Too bad chickens can't vote.

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  7. Animal sacrifice is illegal in LA City. Kosher killing of animals is not. While I don't eat meat I don't have a problem with legal animal handling such as Kosher killing. Kapparot is slitting the throat of a chicken, giving it all your sins then dumping it in the trash to die.They said they would eat the chickens or give them to the poor but they dump them in the trash cans behind the Temples. Before that they leave the chickens in tiny crates full of feces for days. They slit their throats in dirty parking lots, not in clean settings. They put them in plastic garbage bags on the ground. I'm not against Jews. I'm Jewish.

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  8. Ed,

    I wanted to let you know I just published Part 2 of my interview with David Vahedi at:

    http://www.examiner.com/x-1779-LA-Pet-Rescue-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Part-2--Vahedi-on-Pit-Bulls-pet-limits-Billy-the-elephant--how-animal-activists-get-it-wrong

    I have reached out to the Koretz campaign but have not heard back yet.

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