'NO-KILL' PROGRESS CLAIMED.Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer L.A. Department of Animal Services officials said Tuesday they've reached milestones with a high number of number of stray pets adopted and a low number euthanized -- claims immediately refuted by critics of the agency. At a City Hall news conference, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. praised the department and its general manager, Ed Boks, who was hired 18 months ago with the goal of making Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. a "no-kill" city. "We knew it wouldn't be easy or fast to become a no-kill city," Villaraigosa said. "But we are seeing that Los Angeles Animal Services is the No. 1 animal-adoption agency in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . We have adopted out more animals than we have euthanized. We are euthanizing fewer animals than at any time in our history." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the department, 25,279 animals were adopted in the last year, including 21,016 cats and dogs Cats and Dogs A slang term referring to speculative stocks that have short or suspicious histories for sales, earnings, dividends, etc. Notes: In a bull market analysts will often mention that everything is going up, even the cats and dogs. . That surpassed pet adoptions in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , with its 22,295 total, and Philadelphia, with 13,544. Officials also said they've euthanized 18,108 dogs and cats, a 7.2 percent drop from the previous year. They said that's a rate of 4.3 animals euthanized per 1,000 L.A. city residents -- fifth-lowest rate in the nation, behind Mission Viejo Mission Vi·e·jo A community of southern California southeast of Irvine. It is mainly residential. Population: 96,300. , Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, city, United States Santa Cruz (săn`tə kr  z), city (1990 pop. 49,040), seat of Santa Cruz co., W Calif., on the north shore of Monterey Bay; inc. 1866. , New York City and
San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden .
Villaraigosa credited Angelenos for adopting strays from the city's six shelters. "Responsible pet owners realize Los Angeles Animal Services is the place to go to adopt a pet," Villaraigosa said. Boks said the department's Web site, www.laanimalservices.org, has made it easier for prospective pet owners to locate a specific breed and adopt a stray. And the department is working with more than 120 humane groups to promote adoptions and spay-neuter clinics. However, critics of Boks and the department were skeptical of the euthanasia and pet-adoption figures. "What they have done is narrow the definition of euthanasia," said Daniel Guss, a spokesman for the Stand Foundation. "They are excluding from their rates all sorts of dogs and cats and rabbits. The animals are still being killed, but they don't consider it euthanasia. "And, as far as the adoption rate, I don't think it's possible. You are talking about 80 animals a day being adopted, and there is no way to verify that." Phyllis Daugherty of the Animal Issues Movement said the agency is erroneously claiming animals given to humane organizations as adopted pets. "There is no real tracking of the animals, and no one knows what happens to them once they leave the shelters," Daugherty said. Villaraigosa noted that 40 percent of the dogs euthanized at city shelters are pit bulls, powerfully built dogs considered by many to be particularly dangerous. Boks has proposed creating a pit-bull "academy" that would use parolees to train the strays -- a controversial plan Villaraigosa said is still being weighed. rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 |
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