Dec 21, 2007 8:11 pm US/Pacific
County Sued Over Alleged Abuse Of Shelter Animals
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Animal-rights advocates sued the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control and department Director Marcia Mayeda Friday, alleging abusive treatment of animals at all six county shelters.
The lawsuit was filed by No Kill Advocacy Center, along with volunteer animal rescuers Cathy Nguyen and Rebecca Arvizu,.
The lawsuit alleges that the department:
- kills healthy and treatable animals before their state mandated holding period;
- kills lost animals without making reasonable attempts to find the animal's owners;
- fails to provide adequate veterinary care to impounded animals; and
- fails to provide adequate nutrition, shelter and exercise to animals.
"The Los Angeles animal shelter system is supposed to provide a reasonable safety net of care for lost and abandoned animals," said Nathan J. Winograd, director of No Kill Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit animal rights watch group.
"Instead, the system betrays the trust of the citizens of Los Angeles County by failing to treat the animals humanely and kindly," he said.
In the lawsuit, the advocacy center highlights the death of a 10-month-old puppy at the Carson Animal Shelter on Dec. 5, allegedly as a result of exposure to cold.
That death led Supervisor Yvonne Burke to visit the shelter and call for an investigation into the shelter and the death of the puppy.
Results from that investigation will be presented to the County Board of Supervisors at its Jan. 8 meeting.
"This meeting (at the Carson shelter) made it apparent that some personnel and infrastructure needs must be addressed," Burke said at a recent board meeting.
"That's just an example of things that are going on," said Sheldon Eisenberg, attorney for the plaintiffs.
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