Los Angeles Animal Shelter Becomes
Slaughterhouse After Spay/Neuter Law
by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles animal shelter system has become a slaughterhouse for dogs and cats less than six months after City Council passed an ordinance mandating pet sterilization, an analysis of official city statistics shows:
- Euthanasia rates for dogs and cats have increased by 28-percent, compared to the same period a year before the ordinance was enacted.
- There was a 20-percent increase in impoundments for dogs, and a 21-percent increase for cats, compared to the same period a year ago.
In only six months, Los Angeles has mirrored the same brutal results that have been proven in every other community in America that has enacted mandates to spay and neuter pets. All of these ordinances have failed, and dogs and cats have paid the price in blood.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance attempted to warn Los Angeles City Council members of what would happen before they passed the ordinance, but the truth was drummed out by the shrill voices of animal rights groups that knowingly and deliberately misled Los Angeles officials into believing that the ordinance would save animals’ lives.
The animal rights agenda is the elimination of animal ownership in America, but these plans are concealed from elected officials and people who love animals. The leaders of these groups know full-well that spay and neuter mandates will result in the abandonment of thousands of pets, and an increase in shelter killings as a result. They know it, and these brutal deaths are a major part of the animal rights game plan.
Now the truth has come home to roost in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles ordinance became law in early February, 2008, following several months of intense media coverage and a coordinated disinformation campaign by animal rights groups.
City Councilman Richard Alarcon called it a “humane” ordinance that was needed to save the lives of cats and dogs.
Since then, this “humane” ordinance has taken the lives of 1,667 more dogs and cats than were killed during the same period a year before, the data shows.
The first six months of 2008 represent the first increase in Los Angeles shelter admission and euthanasia rates in more than 15 years, official data shows. These rates had dropped steadily over that period.
In a single sweep of the pen, the ordinance has destroyed more than 15 years of hard work and dedication by many people who had succeeded in moving Los Angeles much closer toward “no-kill” status.
In just six months, the Los Angeles shelter admission and euthanasia rates have soared back to levels that have not been seen since 2002, the data shows.
City Council’s vote turned back the clock six full years, and at its current rate Los Angeles will likely descend once again into the Dark Ages of animal shelters of the early 1990’s.
Euthanasia Rates
The impact of the ordinance on euthanasia rates can be seen clearly in a month-by-month analysis of the shelter data, beginning with December 2007, two months before the ordinance was passed. Here is the month-by-month body count:
- In December of 2005, 1,011 dogs and cats were killed. This dropped to 827 in December of 2006, and again to 769 in December of 2007. This month represents a fair baseline of the situation before the ordinance became well known. It is typical of every other month during the three previous years, and shows the great success that had been achieved in Los Angeles before the ordinance was passed.
- In January 2006, 768 dogs and cats were killed. The January death count fell to 739 in 2007, but rose to 820 this year. This increase was 11.6-percent. During January of 2008, the pending ordinance received much press coverage.
- In February of 2006, 569 cats and dogs were killed. This rose inexplicably to 644 in February of 2007, but soared by 17.5–percent to 749 this past February. This was the month the ordinance was passed
- In March 2006, 763 cats and dogs were killed. This fell to 547 in March of 2007. But it rose by a frightening 50–percent to 824 this past March. This was the first month following passage of the ordinance.
- In April 2006, 1,100 dogs and cats were killed. This fell sharply to 856 in April of 2007, but rose to 1,257 in April of this year, two months after the ordinance was passed. This is a 47-percent increase.
- In May 2006, 2043 dogs and cats were killed. This fell to 1,339 in May of 2007, but rose by a heart-stopping 68–percent to 1,762 in May of 2008.
- In June 2006, 2,636 dogs and cats were killed. This fell sharply to 1,849 in June of 2007, but climbed back to 2,229 this past June. This represents a 21-percent increase.
The picture painted by this data is clear. After a 15-year decline in euthanasia numbers, they increased somewhat in January of this year, when the ordinance was being publicized. The increase was steeper the month that the vote was taken, and then went through the roof over the next four months as the news of City Council’s action began to sink in.
If the experiences of other cities holds true, it will take at least five years for euthanasia numbers to get back down to 2007 rates.
Shelter Admissions
While shelter admission rates increased by 20-percent over the most recent six-month period, as compared to the same six months the year before, the increase has been much steeper in the months following passage of the ordinance. We will focus on the last four months of data beginning with the month after the ordinance was passed, although readers can verify the trend over previous months themselves by following the above link to the documents.
- In March of 2007, 3,067 dogs and cats were impounded. This rose to 3,491 in March, 2008, the first month following passage of the ordinance. That is a 13.7-percent increase.
- In April 2007, 3,462 cats and dogs were impounded. This rose by 24–percent to 4,315 in April 2008.
- In May 2007, 4,299 dogs and cats were impounded. This rose to 5,507 in May 2008. That is a 28-percent increase.
- In June 2007, 4,601 dogs and cats were impounded. This rose to 5,371 in June 2008, for a 17–percent increase.
The pattern of escalating shelter admissions in the wake of the ordinance is very clear from this data.
What Will Happen Now
Based on both the actual trends shown in the Los Angeles data and the experiences of other cities and counties, there is little room for doubt that shelter admissions and euthanasia rates will continue a steep rise for the next several years.
We expect the rates of increase shown in the past six months to continue to grow, as soon as the City of Los Angeles begins to enforce the ordinance. The above data represents people who abandoned their pets because they were frightened of the ordinance, but there has been no actual enforcement to date.
When enforcement begins and many people begin to pay large fines and see animal control officers at their doorsteps, we expect these abandonment rates to soar. Other people simply will surrender their pets or allow them to be confiscated.
The noose already has begun to tighten.
Los Angeles Animal Services already has informed rescue groups and pet stores that they will have to turn in the names of everyone who adopts or buys a pet.
This has caused much dissention among rescue organizations, including New Hope Partners, the city’s main rescue program, and threatens to disrupt or destroy the fine work that has been done over many years to find new homes for abandoned cats and dogs.
Pet stores also have received official notice that they must turn in the names of everyone who buys a pet. The notice says that all pet stores must:
“Submit to LA Animal Services a monthly report to include the names, addresses, and telephone numbers, of persons purchasing pets, to include the date the animal was purchased by each person."
From this notice, it would appear that pet stores also have to turn in the names of everyone who buys a pet fish, turtle, bird or gerbil. It does not specify only kittens and puppies.
All city veterinarians also have been notified that they must turn in the names and addresses of everyone who gets a rabies vaccination for a pet.
Recent minutes from a meeting of the Animal Services Board say that “…we are notifying all veterinarians in the City that they are required to send rabies certificates, with owner name and address, to the Department.” In other cities, this requirement has caused many people to refuse to take their pets to a veterinarian to get a rabies vaccination. This creates a public health hazard that is a direct result of spay/neuter mandates.
What You Can Do
The American Sporting Dog Alliance is urging all dog and cat owners from Los Angeles to write to their City Council representatives and ask them to quickly repeal the mandatory pet sterilization ordinance, before more harm is done to animals. Please let them know the information contained in this report reflects their own internal reports, which conclusively show the high price that is being paid by dogs and cats in the wake of the ordinance. We strongly suspect that Animal Services is trying to hide this carnage from City Council. Here is a link to contact information for Los Angeles City Council members: http://www.lacity.org/council.htm. Attending City Council meetings and speaking during public comment periods also would be very important. Ask Council to repeal the ordinance, and tell them what has happened at the shelter. Chicago City Council is expected to vote on a similar ordinance in September. The Chicago ordinance will be modeled on Los Angeles. Please let the Chicago aldermen know about the terrible tragedy that is unfolding now in Los Angeles, and ask them to completely reject a similar ordinance. Their contact information is available at: http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycouncil/alderman/find.html. Also, Dallas City Council passed a very similar ordinance in July that goes into effect in October. For Dallas residents, it is important to let City Council know quickly about the inhumane carnage at the Los Angeles shelter and the destruction of the shelter and rescues system there. Please ask City Council to repeal this ordinance before it’s too late for dogs and cats in Dallas. Here is how to reach them: http://dallascityhall.com/government/government.html.
(Special note: We are deeply indebted to California Pomeranian fancier and activist Geneva Coats, who discovered the shelter statistics and made them available to us. Every dog and cat owner in Los Angeles thanks you, Geneva.)
The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We welcome people who work with other breeds, too, as legislative issues affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in American society and life.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your membership, participation and support are truly essential to the success of our mission. We are funded solely by the donations of our members, and maintain strict independence.
Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org. Our email is ASDA@csonline.net. Complete directions to join by mail or online are found at the bottom left of each page. PLEASE CROSS-POST AND FORWARD THIS REPORT TO YOUR FRIENDS