ANIMAL ACTIVISTS CANCEL ANTONIO PICKET.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer Animal-rights activists canceled a planned weekend protest at the home of 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. on Thursday after he agreed to meet with them as pressure mounts on the head of the Department of Animal Services. The Animal Defense League said in a statement that it called off the event at the mayor's Mount Washington Mount Washington is the name of several mountains in North America:
n. A reward; recompense. tr.v. guer·doned, guer·don·ing, guer·dons To reward. [Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin Stuckey, who has been the focus of criticism by some in the animal-activist community. ``The mayor intends to uphold his pledge to reform the Department of Animal Services, doing what it takes to make it more animal-friendly and responsive,'' spokeswoman Janelle Erickson said. ``The mayor is working hard to tackle the tough challenges facing 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. , and reforming the department is one of those challenges,'' she said. As part of that, the mayor's office announced Thursday that it is replacing Erika Brunson with businessman Glenn Brown Glenn Brown (born 1966 in Hexham) is an English artist and painter who was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2000. Brown appropriates images created by living, working artists, such as Frank Auerbach and Howard Hodgkin, as well as images by artists more established in the on the five-member Board of Animal Services Commissioners. Brunson, who was traveling in Europe, released a letter she said she had sent to the mayor and other commissioners criticizing Stuckey's performance as general manager. Stuckey was named to head the department nearly a year ago by former Mayor James Hahn, who said he believed Stuckey's management background would outweigh his lack of experience with animal-welfare issues. Brunson, who has been active in the humane community for more than 20 years, however, said she felt Stuckey had not performed well. ``As you yourself have acknowledged, the department is led by an extremely weak and very inexperienced general manager,'' Brunson wrote. ``You have nothing to gain and much to lose from allowing the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. to persist and I believe your current inaction to be notably uncharacteristic of your active approach to government.'' Erickson said the mayor would not respond directly to Brunson's assertions, but said Villaraigosa is committed to change. Stuckey, whose apartment was smoke-bombed by animal-rights extremists, said Thursday that he has worked to improve the department and is trying to reach a point where the department does not have to euthanize euthanize see euthanatize. healthy animals. ``I think the department has come a long way and we are euthanizing 46 percent fewer animals than when I came on,'' Stuckey said. ``I have met with the mayor and he has made clear he expects to see our performance improve. ``We believe the concerns of a lot of the extremists is misplaced mis·place tr.v. mis·placed, mis·plac·ing, mis·plac·es 1. a. To put into a wrong place: misplace punctuation in a sentence. b. . We are working with the humane community to try to reach a solution,'' he said. Rick Orlov, (213) 978-0390 rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com |
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