'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 praised the department and its general manager, Ed Boks, who was hired 18 months ago with the goal of making Los Angeles 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. We have adopted out more animals than we have euthanized. We are euthanizing fewer animals than at any time in our history."

According to the department, 25,279 animals were adopted in the last year, including 21,016 cats and dogs. That surpassed pet adoptions in New York City, 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, Santa Cruz, New York City and San Francisco.

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

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