Kathy,
Yes Kathy, there has been improvement in adoptions by 4.000 cats and dogs over last year period of 12 months.
BUT, New Hope adoptions are down by 1,000 from last year through June. In fact, this is the lowest number of animals adopted by rescue groups in five years.
This is not a claim for success.
The Returned to Owner number is up by about 8.5% over last year, but is no improvement at all over five years ago, despite all the microchipping. We are not returning more animals to their owners.
This is no claim to improvement.
Euthanasia for dogs and cats is up a horrible 4,000 compared to last year, and is the worst kill year in the last four years, and the second worst in five years. In fact, the past 12 months were not the third largest kill year. Only one year was worse according to your posted stats, July through June, 2004-2005. http://laanimalservices.org/PDF/reports/CatNDogIntakeNOutcomes.pdf
This is no claim to improvement.
The number of animals that have died in the shelter from disease and fighting/injuries is down a 25% from last year, but last year was the worst on record. In fact, every one of the other past four years had fewer deaths from disease and injury, despite now having a staff of six vets. Only last year was worse.
Also, despite more spay/neuter certificates and in-house spay/neuter surgeries than ever before, the numbers of animals impounded, including feral cats has risen dramatically, by almost 10,000 animals compared to two and three years ago.
One cannot claim the spay/neuter program has helped reduce impounds unless you have data that most of the increased number was owner turn-ins.
In fact, the only category where Animal Services has been doing better is adoptions; all the other statitical disposition categories are notices of failure.
Even New York City has moved ahead of Los Angeles when they had been trailing in performance for years.
Last year was horrible in terms of animals dying, and this year it is worse. Te actual live save rate is dropping.
The nutty five year plan posted by Ed Boks addresses none of these failures or even acknowledges the problems. The system is failing.
Email to Kathy Davis from Mary Cummins,
ReplyDeleteIf you would increase the cat limit, I'm sure Muzika would adopt more. So would a lot of other people. If you increased the limit just to five, you could save thousands of lives. The limit in Beverly Hills was six. Now because LA is servicing the City, the limit is now three? I'm at the limit so I can't adopt any more either. What's ironic is that when I was in the City I could have had as many bobcats as I had legal cages but I could only have three domestic cats. The laws don't make much sense. They should be based on ability to care. Plus, rescue groups should be able to get indoor cat kennel permits in residential zones. I'm sure all New Hope partners and fosters are over the legal limit yet the City wants them to take more animals, gives them more animals. In these tough times we really need the limit raised and indoor cat kennel permits for rescuers in residential zones.
Mary Cummins
www.AnimalAdvocates.us
Not surprising is that people who have more than the “legal limit” of pets will, oftentimes, be accused by Animal Control of neglecting their animals or keeping them in unfit housing, in which case formal charges may be brought against the responsible pet owner and the pets will be confiscated and taken to an overcrowded pound where they will be marked as “evidence,” then relegated to a cement cage that likely is not protected from the triple-digit heat, not exercised, not socialized, and not properly looked after, while the responsible pet owner, who kept the pets in an air-conditioned house, provided toys, fed the animals, and cared for them medically, awaits a court hearing.
ReplyDeleteYep, that’s the animal control system at its best.
Mary makes the best case of anything I've seen. But me thinks this something that must go through the City Council... to change the laws?
ReplyDelete