ANIMAL OUTLAWS; UNTAMED DOGS RUN WITH PACK IN VALLEY.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

The muddy Pacoima alleyway ended in a junkyard strewn with rusty trucks, trashed appliances and construction equipment - home to a pack of stray dogs that prowl, feed, howl and breed in the neighborhood.

Here amid the broken-down bulldozers and heaps of rubble, some 20 scrappy survivors have lived like outlaws of the animal world, unwanted and abandoned or born wild on the San Fernando Valley's streets.

The East Valley hosts numerous dog packs, said Lt. Tim Goffa, who heads the Animal Regulation Department's Special Enforcement Unit, which tracks and traps stray or loose canines.

``One of the hot spots for the Valley is Arleta, Pacoima and Panorama City,'' he said. ``That's where we get a lot of complaints about vicious dogs running around loose.

``It's just a massive problem in the Valley.''

The situation took a gruesome turn last week when a loose dog gnawed the foot off a comatose woman who lay unconscious in her Shadow Hills home.

Complaints about violent packs of dogs in South Central Los Angeles had already prompted the creation of the special enforcement unit to round up strays last year.

The team, composed of Goffa and three officers, captured 1,800 dogs citywide between the time it was formed in May 1996 and December of last year.

It impounded 1,423 as of Nov. 11 this year. About 275 of this year's catches came from the Valley, where the team spends about three days a month.

Goffa estimates that about two-thirds of the dogs captured are feral and the remaining third are owned dogs illegally running loose.

The department has no estimate of how many dogs are roving the city, but Goffa said the numbers have multiplied during two decades of neglect.

``The department has not been able to respond to this problem between 1975 and 1996,'' when the City Council approved $170,000 a year for wild dog control, Goffa said. ``Since no one was able to respond to this complaint, all these dogs have been breeding and hiding under houses, in empty fields and in abandoned houses.''

Over 20 years, generations of stray dogs have grown estranged from people, becoming wary and wily. They forage for trash, sometimes antagonize neighboring humans and their pets, and raise their pups to subsist in the same manner.

``Dogs that are running at large on the street will oftentimes form a pack and take on a pack mentality,'' said department spokesman Peter Persic. ``They may become more aggressive than normal.''

As neighborhood bullies, they may bite pedestrians, chase kids on bikes or attack dogs on leashes. They endanger drivers by darting through traffic and can spread diseases including rabies, ringworm and mange, to other pets or people, said Dena Mangiamele, chief veterinarian for the Animal Regulation Department.

The problem includes both feral dogs, born to stray mothers, and family dogs turned loose for the day.

Getting into trouble

``Even the most-loved, best-behaved owned dog, if allowed to run free, will often pack just for the day, go home at night, and still get into a lot of trouble during the day,'' said Gini Barrett, director of the Western Regional Office of the American Humane Association in Encino. ``It's kind of like teen-age boys. Together, they will do things they wouldn't do singly.''

Pups born wild generally shy away from people but lash out when threatened, said animal behaviorist Dan Estep of Denver.

``They usually try to avoid people, but if they're cornered or trapped in some way they can bite,'' he said.

As animal control officers entered the Pacoima yard, they faced a pack of dogs, from new pups to grizzled old mongrels, bristling with fear and animosity.

The older dogs retreated immediately, but Goffa scooped up an armful of fluffy brown puppies and slipped the whimpering litter into an animal control truck.

``Come on baby,'' officer Larry Morales cooed to a puppy cringing behind some run-down equipment.

The dog issued a piercing wail as he snatched it by the scruff of its neck. Its eyes bulging with fear, the squalling animal torqued its head around, trying to nip Morales' arm.

``These dogs haven't been touched by people,'' Goffa said. ``So that's why when you pick them up, they start screaming like that. . . . These dogs, they don't belong to anybody.''

As officers picked up the puppies, the adult dogs had slipped into a neighboring field and circled atop a knoll. Three officers, armed with lassos, entered a kind of canine rodeo, the dogs growling and whipping around their legs.

Finally they snared a fierce-looking pit bull mix and dragged the twisting, jerking dog into the truck.

``I'm glad you guys are out here,'' a woman called out through her car window. ``They're making a mess around here.''

Other residents voiced similar approval of the team's activities.

``They have to work 24 hours,'' said Jose Orellana, 34. ``We cannot sleep with these dogs here.''

Monica Gutierrez, however, watched with disgust as the team captured a drooling, panic-stricken dog earlier in the day.

``I think that's sad,'' said Gutierrez, 16. ``They're grabbing them like they're nothing.''

Difficult task

Michael Bell, director of the Animal Legislative Action Network in Encino, said that while he doesn't want to see stray dogs wandering the streets, ``Capturing them and schlepping them to the shelter is bass-ackwards. . . . To me that's like standing at the foot of the ocean with a cup with a hole in it trying to capture the ocean.''

The special enforcement unit's budget would be better spent on a low-cost spay and neuter program or on a breeding ordinance to control the births of unwanted puppies, he said.

Once the dogs are captured, it's unclear how many find new homes.

If officers know or suspect that a loose dog is owned, they leave a card notifying the resident that the dog is being held at the shelter. If the owner is present when they capture the dog on the street, officers return the animal but issue a citation.

Animals whose owners are unknown are held at the shelter for five days before they are put up for adoption, Persic said. After that time, they are held for as long as they remain healthy and the shelter has room.

Sometimes that's not long.

The Daily News recently reported that of 182,878 animals that entered Los Angeles city and county shelters last year, 138,929 were killed.

The department does not track what percentage of dogs impounded by the special enforcement unit are eventually adopted. But officers stress that every animal has a chance.

And Barrett said dogs who have been abandoned or abused can become excellent pets, intensely bonded through loyalty and gratitude to their new owners.

``Any dog is adoptable,'' Goffa said. ``Some animals you'll have to work longer with than others.''

But sick and malnourished, fearful and defensive, the street dogs may find their time diminished.

``It's a pretty sad situation,'' Goffa said. ``The animals are not cared for. Because they're turned out on their own, they don't belong to anybody. They're the homeless of the animal world.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- 2 -- color) A pack of dogs, top, watch as animal control officers Eric Gardner, left, and Larry Morales try to lasso a loose canine in Pacoima.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News