ANIMAL SERVICES PLANS TO APPEAL PROPOSED CUTS.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

Staff Writer

A second city department said Tuesday that it would appeal some of the cuts being proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in his $6.78 billion spending plan for Los Angeles.

Officials with the Department of Animal Services said they will seek to restore $300,000 for a program that gives residents a venue to air complaints about barking and dangerous dogs.

The announcement came just days before the City Council is scheduled to begin its review of the spending plan, which also has drawn complaints from City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

On Tuesday, Delgadillo continued to appeal the mayor's proposed $3.7 million cut to his $97 million budget, taking his gripe directly to council members with his budget staff.

"I am particularly concerned that the proposed budget attempts to eliminate and weaken school-based gang prevention programs created by and administered through my office," Delgadillo wrote in a letter to council members.

"As elected officials, it is incumbent upon us to ensure the safety of our children on and around school campuses. Now is not the time to unilaterally disarm in the fight to keep our kids and our campuses safe."

The Mayor's Office last week defended its decisions, saying Delgadillo was being asked to cut spending by 1.2 percent and had refused to provide a plan to achieve the reduction.

Villaraigosa spokesman Matt Szabo said the budget continues the current level of gang prosecutors but rejects a proposed increase. He also said some of the programs that had been run by the City Attorney's Office are being transferred to other city agencies with no decrease in funding.

At Animal Services, the mayor has proposed eliminating positions for a hearing officer program that had been previously funded by department savings, Assistant General Manager Linda Barth said.

"We are going through our records now to show how effective the program has been and are looking for a way to keep it going," she said.

The program handles about 200 cases a year dealing with residents' complaints about barking dogs and dog attacks, she added. The department is hoping to regain some funds to keep the program operating.

"A lot of our focus will be on dealing with the dangerous-dog aspects," she said. "That's the part dealing with public safety."

Phyllis Daugherty of the Animal Issues Movement said the program has proved valuable.

"It is the only avenue that people have to complain about barking dogs and those that are a threat," she said. "What concerns many of us is that if this is no longer in existence, we could have a situation where people get violent and take matters into their own hands by poisoning or beating dogs."

Villaraigosa spokeswoman Janelle Erickson said the cuts in Animal Services will not affect cases involving dangerous dogs or the response to barking-dog complaints.

"This is a dispute-resolution program that handles, at best, 75 cases a year," Erickson said. "We think it takes away from the core mission of the department and we will still be responding to citizen complaints."

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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